Let Hands Be My Voice
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: Some say actions speak louder than words. It's just a saying... or is it? When silence falls upon one of them, the paladins anxiously wait for the resolve. And attempt to cope in the meantime. When distractions arise to help... somewhat.
1. The Sound Of Silence

Voltron: Let Hands Be My Voice

Chapter one

 _A conversation was being held. Darks eyes scanned the ones involved. No sound reaching his ears, despite the motion of lips among his comrades. Looking from one person to another as their discussion commenced..._

"Keith, this is _not_ good." Allura remarked openly. Her eyes bore into his.

"Believe me, I know." The Red Paladin answered, his gaze wandering to the silent Black Paladin.

"It should come back to him, but until it does we've got a big problem on our hands." The Green Paladin piped up.

"And besides how can we function like this?" Hunk's voice had uncertainty painted all over it, like an old painting of unknown origin or value.

"We'll just have to make do." Keith told them.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Lance questioned, getting in his face. The two often butted heads so that was one thing Shiro could understand, even without his hearing. Seeing their faces heat up, he quickly stood, and put a hand on both their shoulders and drew them away from one another. The two stared but Shiro's actions spoke louder then his words would have.

"I know, you're right Shiro. We need to focus." Keith sighed. The Black Paladin blinked, he wasn't known for reading lips. And discovered he wasn't good at it, turns out.

"And that's another problem." Pidge pressed, frustration building. "We can't even communicate with him!" She extended her hand to Shiro. "He clearly can't understand us." Shiro held his blank stare, further proving her point.

"I know." Keith began, becoming irritated, but was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Keith turned to face Shiro squarely. The Black Paladin put his hands, palms up, in front of him a shrugging motion. Pidge caught on to what Shiro was trying to tell them. She stepped forward and when Shiro looked down at her. She pointed her ears and then at him. She, then, shrugged and shook her head. Shiro have a nod, showing his understanding of this. Then Pidge went on to other strange motions trying to explain the situation. At that moment Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Coran had all began their own way of interpreting there situation to the Black Paladin. He looked around at them, knowing they were trying to tell him something. He shook his head, signifying his inability to understand them. But everyone continued to mime their explanation, and Pidge dropped her arms to her sides.

"Now what do we do?" She groaned. Sitting down and placing her chin in her hands. Keith, who had been lost in his thoughts, suddenly perked up.

"Guys, quiet!" He ordered firmly. Everyone stopped and Lance and Hunk were froze awkwardly. Then turning to Shiro, Keith began motioning with his fingers and hands. Shaping his hands, fully visible to his silent friend. After a couple minutes he finished. And, to their surprise, Shiro nodded and motioning something short back to him. When Keith turned toward the team, their flabbergasted faces met him.

"What?" The confused Paladin asked, eyebrows raised.

"How did you do that?" Lance breathed.

"Was that sign language?!" Pidge half screamed.

"Yeah,... it was." Keith responded answering her.

"I didn't know Shiro knew sign language." Hunk remarked.

"I'm sorry, what?" Allura and Coran we're both lost. The Princess's question ringing true by their expressions.

"Shiro had an uncle that was deaf, and to talk to him his parents taught him sign language. I learned from him when we hung out all the time on Earth." Keith explained.

"What does that mean?" Allura asked, still lost in translation.

"So sign language is a tool we use back on Earth to talk to people who are deaf. You know, people who can't hear, sometimes you are born with it or become deaf because of an injury or disease. Or an accident, like in Shiro's case." The Green Paladin explained to the two Alteans, pointing over at Shiro again.

"Ohh." And they nodded showing their enlightenment of this explanation. Shiro gestured something to the group again.

"Uhh...what did he say?" Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He said, 'now that we all understand the situation, where do we go from here?'" Keith interpreted. Shiro have a slight nod, confirming this.

"Well..." Pidge began slowly. "I guess we keep going and hope that Shiro's hearing comes back." Keith signed this to Shiro. Shiro responded with more signing.

"Sounds like a plan." Keith relayed the Black Paladin's response.

"But some things _have_ to change." Lance pointed out. "We'll need someone to stay with Shiro all the time, and since Keith is only one of us who can talk to him." He gestured to Keith. Shiro signed at Keith.

"He's just talking about keeping you safe." Keith told him, signing as he spoke. Shiro replied. "No it's not you, it's us." Keith told him.

"Is there a problem?" Allura asked.

"No," Keith replied quickly. "He was just wondering what was going on. What we were talking about."

"Well don't worry, Shiro." Pidge stepped forward. "Keith will keep you in the loop as best he can." After reading Keith's signs, he turned back to Pidge smiling, and motioning one thing.

"I know what that means." Pidge smiled returning a single motion.

"Hey, I thought you didn't know sign language." Lance questioned narrowing his eyes, gazed down his nose at her.

"I don't." Pidge shrugged, pushing Lance away. "I only know a few things. Like 'thank you' and 'you're welcome.' Stuff like that... Small things." Shiro laid a hand on Keith's shoulder and turned him to face him, then motioned something.

"No Shiro." Keith signed as he spoke. "She was just telling me what signs she knows."

"So, how long have you known sign language?" Hunk asked. Keith passed the message to Shiro, who began his story.

"I was taught sign language ever since I was old enough to read." Keith interpreted. "I had to, to be able to talk to my uncle. We told each other stories and jokes. And I told him about my love of space, and my dream to one day go to the Garrison."

"So you're practically an expert." Lance implied. Shiro nodded.

"I learned from my mom and my grandma." Keith read Shiro's fingers as he finished his explanation.

"Well it's getting late. We should get to bed." Allura sighed finally. Keith repeated this to Shiro. Shiro nodded, his fingers taking on different shapes in his response.

"Uhh...what's that now?" Hunk cocked is head to the right slightly and raising the corresponding eyebrow.

"He said 'Allura's right, getting a good night sleep will help us think more clearly tomorrow." Keith told him. "Especially with Zarkon after us."

"Right!" Hunk winked and gave him a thumbs up. And with that the team scattered to their rooms, anxiously awaiting what the next day will bring.

 _Shiro thrust the Black lion forward, faster and faster plunging toward seemingly nothing. His eyes fixed forward, anger burning deep within his chest. The sound of his own breath, serenading the pounding of his heart. The lion's thrusters blazed, as enemy shots rained down on them. He jerked the handles back and the lion shot up at them. The lasers took them out and Black emerged from the wreckage. Only to hear the other Paladins screaming and calling to him, as two large round objects launched from the beast several yards away from him. They rocketed toward them from either side of him. Shiro, then, thrust the lion forward pulling it around in a vertical circle in avoidance of these devices. But when they collided, it gave birth to an explosion that created sound waves so loud you couldn't hear them, but rather, fell an intense pressure that felt like your eardrums would explode!..._

Shiro's eyes shot open as he instinctively thrust himself upright. If he had screamed he wouldn't have known, and he _felt_ his heart pounding rather than heard it. He peered around the darkness, and realized what had happened. Releasing a sigh he laid back down again, but after a while he got this feeling he should go check on something. Unsure of what it was, he still slid out of bed, dressed and headed toward the bridge. To his surprise someone was already there.

 _"Keith, What are you doing here?"_ Shiro signed when the Red Paladin looked up.

 _"Nothing."_ Keith signed back. _"I could say the same about you."_ His face showing a little concern. _"Are you ok?"_

 _"I don't know."_ Shiro motioned, his expression a little troubled. _"I just couldn't sleep for some reason."_

 _"I wouldn't be surprised."_ Keith gestured sympathetically. _"That blast took your hearing. And you rely upon it quite a bit."_

 _"Yeah, But I feel There's more to it."_ Shiro signed with a sigh. _"Like there's something more going on here. And where they got such weapons? It's hard to believe how fast the Galra evolve over time."_

 _"I know what you mean."_ Keith's eyes dropping to the floor. _"The Galra have skills that we, on Earth, could have only dreamed of."_ He paused before adding. _"That's, strangely, one thing I admire about them. Except for what they do with it."_

 _"Do you think that we're not capable of discovering this stuff for ourselves?"_ Shiro signed, his gaze meeting Keith's.

 _"I guess we would..."_ Keith responded, his eyes glazed in uncertainty. _"Eventually,... probably when it's too late."_

 _"And why would you think that?"_ Shiro's eyebrows furrowing tenderly at him.

 _"Because that's how we know so much now."_ Keith signed, his fingers showing his increasing agitation. _"You of all people should understand that. You AND Sam... and even Matt. Just by being around the Galra the three of you have learned things from them."_

 _"That may be true."_ Shiro confirmed, coming forward. _"But Sam is the smartest man I know, and there are many intelligent people like him, back on Earth. I'm sure that we'd eventually figure it out. And besides, we don't need to worry about what could have happened and focus on what is."_

 _"But how to we do that? What if you've lost your hearing forever?"_ Keith questioned, his eyes revealing the fear he felt, betraying his usual stoick expression. His then calmly added: "what if you've become your uncle?"

 _"Keith, we can work through this."_ Shiro kept his normal calm demeanor. _"We just need to-"_

 _"What?! Just what?!"_ Keith cut him off. Though they were not using words, it still felt like a real argument.

 _"We can't let our emotions get the better of us."_ Shiro signed. _"We have to stay focused on stopping Zarkon. I don't know how we're going to do it but we'll find a way. I know we will."_ Keith stared at him, his tense face softening, yet, still showing his uncertainty.

 _"Ok."_ His hands jerked when he signed this, displaying his frustration.

"We're almost there." Pidge reported, from her chair. Shiro stood behind her watching what she was doing. Keith was across the room, but within sight of the Black Paladin. Shiro then, seeing something, leaned over and pointed at it.

"It's just an anomaly. Nothing important." Pidge told him. Shiro gazed over at Keith, who repeated Pidge's statement. Shiro signed something and Keith came closer.

"He said, 'but doesn't that look a little suspicious with all the other algorithms presently be emitted here?'" Keith told her. The Green Paladin took another look.

"It's another radio frequency." Pidge reported, a hint of surprise in her tone.

"And what's so surprising about that?" Lance crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I thought they were _all_ algorithms?" Hunk emphasized.

"Because, this frequency isn't like the others." Pidge told them flatly, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "It's unique pulsations are an indication of a distress signal. I just need to adjust some things to figure out where it's coming from." Shiro gestured something her.

"Nice work, Pidge." Keith interpreted. Suddenly an alarm went off and everyone turned. Shiro tentatively followed their gaze, given his situation.

"Oh no." Keith breathed.

 **Hey Shiro fans, what-up?! So this story was one I just recently came up with. I'm posting it on here to see what you guys think. And it if I should continue it. This story takes place in season two, between 'Shiro's Escape' and 'Greening the Cube.' Anyway hope you annoy it. And again, let me know if I should continue. Thx!!**


	2. Team Building

Chapter two

"How did they find us again?!" Allura spat under her breath. The Galra central command ship loomed over the Castle. Shiro's eyes widened, then suddenly an intense pressure slammed into him like a brick wall.

"Shiro!!" Keith cried seeing this. Shiro clutched his head, feeling Zarkon's presence. Shiro somehow managed to motion something through this.

"What's going on?!" Allura asked, watching helplessly.

"He said that 'Zarkon is trying to take over the Black Lion again.' He's trying to shut him out."

"We need to get down there and stop him from taking the Black lion." Allura decided, emphasis in her tone. She began to walk toward the door, but Shiro put a hand up stopping her. He gestured to Keith and the Red Paladin returned the message.

"We need to get to all the lions and buy us time to get away. And we may need Voltron to do it." He said.

"But what about your hearing?!" Pidge protested. "We can't just let you go out there, alone. What if you get into trouble?" Shiro began a reply, but seeing what he was saying Keith couldn't stop himself.

"What are you talking about, of course we're concerned!" He told him, his body language showing his distress. Shiro laid a hand on his shoulder, and Keith understood immediately.

"He said, 'I understand your concern.'" Keith interpreted, with a heavy sigh. "But there is no other option. We can't form Voltron with only four lions. And Keith can't always be my voice. I have other ways of communication." Keith paused, giving thought to this. "Shiro, are you sure this is a good idea?"

 _"It's the only idea we have."_ Shiro signed back. Keith gave a nod, closing his eyes.

"Let's get to the lions." He decided looking up at the rest of the team.

Upon launching the lions, they were instantly met by fighters and cruisers. "We have to protect Shiro and the Black lion!" Keith called from Red, biting down on a fighter and tossing it toward another.

"Copy that!" Pidge responded.

"Ten-four!" Hunk replied.

"You got it!" Lance agreed.

Electric energy flashed around the Galra Emperor.

"Get my close!" Zarkon roared. "Capture the Black lion! Get me Voltron!!" The ship hovered closer. Shiro thrust Black faster through the net of Galra fleets. He looked up towards the ship, he could see Zarkon and the druids and knew he was up to something. He could feel Zarkon's influence ensue upon him more. _What can I do?!_ He thought desperately.

 _Nothing_. He heard Zarkon's voice in his head, like it was a psychic message. The Black lion froze, squirming awkwardly, it presented a pinkish aura around it as before. Keith saw this, then glanced up toward the ship.

"Yeess." Zarkon praised, feeling the lion's obedience. "Come to your _true_ Paladin." Suddenly they were blindsided by laser fire, which caused them to lose their concentration; releasing the Black Lion _and_ it's Paladin. "NOO!!" Zarkon thundered. Shiro jetted away, he appeared on Keith's screen.

 _"Thank you."_ Shiro signed quickly.

 _"No problem."_ Keith responded just as quickly. As a blue laser blasted between them, taking out a cruiser that was about to shoot them.

"Now's your chance, get out of there!!" Allura called.

"Stay in the game, guys!!" Lance scolded, weaving through enemy fire. Black and Red flew opposite ways to re-join the battle.

Zarkon sneered, rising to his feet again. "I want every fleet after the Black lion immediately!!" He muttered to his witch, Hagger.

"Of course Sire." She bowed her head slightly, then turned to her Druids. "Continue the ritual, I will return shortly."

"Yes Haggar." A Druid gave a nod. And the witch floated away.

"We can't keep this up much longer!! We need to disappear!!" Allura cried, feeling the castle jerk under her feet.

"Allura's right!" Keith agreed, his voice cracking a little under the pressure.

"But how do we do that." Lance asked. The lions were circled up looking from one to another. Everyone looked at Shiro and the Black lion's head suddenly looked up.

"Great idea, Shiro!" Keith smiled, reading his mind. "Form Voltron!!"

Jetting down as the mighty robot, Shiro appeared across Red's screen, and gestured.

"You got it." Keith nodded drawing his bayard. "Form sword!!" Drawing the sword, Shiro popped up in front of Pidge. He held up his right arm in front of him, his fist to him, and pointed at his arm.

"On it!" Pidge slammed her bayard into the lock. Now wielding the sword and the shield, Voltron plunged toward the Galra cruisers blasting through the first one and headed for another. Blocking attacks from all sides with the shield, they used the sword to slice through the Galra ships. Voltron stabbed a cruiser, and pushed it towards the Galra's main ship blowing up of the arches that pointed downwards from the ship. Shiro, finally, signed to Keith.

"Copy that." Keith sighed back. "Allura open up a wormhole! We're getting out of here!" As soon as it opened they dove into it and were soon several galaxies away. The ships floated alone in a harmless green nebula, for cover from the Galra's search. Shiro plopped down into his chair and relaxed back, as did the other Paladins. The fight had drained them, especially Shiro from fighting Zarkon.

Allura slumped at the teludav, the stress of the battle had just now begun to overwhelm her, after the adrenaline of battle.

"Zarkon shouldn't be able to find us again." Allura indicated, breaking the silence. "We should be safe here for now." Shiro stood up and signed to Keith.

"You're right Shiro. We need to take a break." Keith signed, reading his fingers. Shiro continued something that everyone, annoyingly, couldn't understand.

"He says, 'we should still stay sharp in case something happens again,' he's suggesting we do training exercises... together." Shiro signed that last word, as Keith uttered it.

"Ok," Lance began slowly. "What do you have in mind?" Shiro thought for a second.

"Ok I think they're ready." Pidge said finally. Shiro read Keith's fingers before giving a nod and a smile. He then took the five Paladins down to the open training deck, which now had five large machines that faced each other in a pentagon-type formation. Standing next to one of them he began his explanation. And Keith, as usual, prepared to interpret.

"These simulators are much like the ones at the Garrison. But are designed like the Lions' cockpits. We can use these to run battle simulations."

"But why can't we just use the lions." Lance questioned. His crossed arms and raised eyebrow giving away his inability to understand.

"Because we don't want to risk drawing attention to ourselves." Keith passed on Shiro's response. "We're trying to lay low, until we're ready to take the fight to Zarkon again."

"Oh, yeah." Lance realized. Shiro then waved a hand to the simulators and each Paladin got into them, according to their color-scheme. Taking there places at the controls the screens lit up and appeared just how they do in the lions. "Hey you're right?! This _does_ feel like the lions' cockpits." The Blue Paladin was genuinely surprised by this.

"He told you didn't he." Keith popped up on his screen, shooting him a frustrated look.

"Yeah, Yeah. Whatever let's get this thing started already." Lance brushed off Keith's expression and jerked the handles, as if that was going to start things up. Shiro appeared on Pidge's screen and he gestured to her.

"Oh right. So here's the scenario..." The Green Paladin tapped a a few buttons on her gauntlet. And each of their screens morphed into the battle scene. "Ok, take it away Princess."

"You're on a treacherous geyser planet," Allura told them. "And a Galra fleet and a ro-beast is attacking. But there are people down below that need protection. What do you do?" The paladins dodged the enemy fire and firing back at the fleets. Shiro tapped something on his screen, then sent it to Keith. Seeing it pop up, Keith studied it for only a second and knew what to do.

"Got it. Hunk, you and I'll take down that ro-beast. Pidge, Lance cover Shiro. We have to keep the Galra from reaching the city down there."

"Copy that. We're on it." Pidge nodded.

"Woah, woah, woah, who put Keith in charge?" Lance questioned.

"Um, because I ok the only one who knows his plan of attack." The Red Paladin answered, taking in a corrective tone.

The lions split ways and Shiro, Pidge, and Lance were met by the Galra mothership joined by several Galra fleets all around it.

"What the heck?!" Lance cried, half screaming. "We can't stop that thing by ourselves?!" Shiro thrust his lion forward.

"I guess we're gonna try." Pidge stated, following suit. Lance groaned before sending Blue into battle.

Hunk head-butted the ro-beast and Keith shot his lasers at it. Drawing there jaw blades, Keith sliced its arm open. Electrical energy spiked from it and the creature roared at them. Shooting it's lasers, they both dove away in avoidance. From the fingers of the creature came something much like the Komarr, dark energy which reached out to the two lions. The two received an electric shock, and spun out.

"Ok, this isn't working. We need to regroup." Keith grumbled between breaths. "Pidge, Lance how are things on you're end?" Keith jerked his handles maneuvering Red around to see the other Paladins as he said this.

"Ugh, not good." Lance reported. "There's too many of them."

"Keith, watch out!" Hunk knocked the Red lion out of the way, as another blast zapped between them, hitting the main ship. Seeing this Keith had an idea.

"That's it!" His eyes widened. "Hunk, we need to lure that thing to the main fleet. We can use the ro-beast's weapons to take out the Galra, and help the rest of the team."

"You got it!" The Yellow Paladin called back. Blasting the ro-beast with their lasers again they took off toward the Galra fleets. As creature returned fire, the two lions evaded, allowing the blasts to hit the Galra instead. When a blast cut Shiro off, he looked to see what the Yellow and Red lions were doing, and smiled proudly. By blasting the Galra ships and then the ro-beast the team were able to neutralize the Galra. Shiro then plunged the Black lion toward the central command ship, and into the bridge delivering a laser beam that knocked out all the power to the ship.

"Nice going Shiro!" Keith called. "Now we just have to deal with this guy." The lions now all faced the ro-beast. Shiro jetted up and the other lions followed suit, knowing what to do next.

Coming back down as Voltron, Shiro motioned for the sword and, drawing it, used it to slice at the creature.

"The geysers!! We can used them, just like we did the Zanthorium clusters!" Pidge called. Shiro gave her a thumbs up and they jetted to together weaving through the shooting water. Coming out the other side, they whipped around and sliced the creature right down the middle. It split in two and exploded, just like the gladiator ro-beast did. The Paladins cheered together as the screens flashed, confirming their victory. They trained a bit more, before all gathering together in the lounge. Lance plopped down in the long, round couch and sprawled out, laying his head all the way back.

"Ahh, three training simulations, four combat drills, and we still have time to chill." He kicked his legs up onto the coffee table, laying one over the other. And crossed his arms under his head. "We are so good."

"Don't forget the two team-building activities." Pidge reminded him, adjusting her glasses on her nose. Shiro turned to Keith a signed something.

 _"Hey, good work today."_ He said, smiling.

 _"Yeah,"_ Keith signed back, _"thanks."_

"So..." Pidge's voice made everyone turn her way. "What do you guys want to talk about?" Her awkward posture, revealed her boredom. Shiro gestured his thoughts for Keith to share with the group.

"What if we did one more team-building activity."

"Ugh, more training." Lance dropped his head back again. But Shiro placed his hand up, as if asking him to hear him out.

"My team during the Kerberos mission were very close." Keith continued Shiro's story. "We were like family, which meant there were no secrets between us. I want us all to share one story about ourselves that the rest of us may not know."

"Um ok, I...guess we could try that?" Keith said, after a pause.

"So who's gonna go first?" Hunk asked openly. And the room fell silent once more each person scanning the others.

 **What is up everybody glad you guys are enjoying this story, as I said it was a very recent idea that I have really found that I like. But like in transformers with bumblebee's voice being all beeps and blips it's hard to vividly describe Shiro's silence. But I'm doing my best. As for transformers I've never written a fanfic for it but I might someday. Who knows. Anyway, as always, thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Thx!!!**


	3. Unexpected Connections (Ties)

Chapter three

 _The wind blew through his light brown hair. The sun shone on his skin, as it dipped into the horizon, sinking from view. The sky was the bathed in colors of all different hues._

 _"One day you'll be up there." A female voice broke through the Cuban boy's thoughts. Her dark brown hair, grey eyes, and glasses met him when he turned towards the voice._

 _"Yeah,... I know." Lance broke his gaze._

 _"Aren't you excited?" Veronica went on._

 _"Well- Yeah, but what if I don't have time for you guys? It'd be like I was abandoning you."_

 _"Look, Lance, you can't abandon us." Veronica encouraged, shifting closer to her younger brother. "We wouldn't let if you tried. And I'd be the first to hunt you down." She gave him a joking, determined smiled. "Besides this is what you've been wanting for years. Ever since I joined, you've gone on about wanting to go too. And now you can." The two stared up at the sky as the colored sky faded into blackness and the stars began to twinkle overhead._

 _"Maybe you're right." Lance breathed, his gaze not breaking._

 _"Aren't I always." Veronica teased, nudging him. Then she wrapped an arm around his neck and knuckled his head, ruffling his hair. And Lance couldn't help but laugh. As the memory faded away..._

"I probably would been here if it weren't for her." Lance finished.

"I- had no idea." Allura commented thoughtfully. "I always _did_ wonder how you found the Blue lion and brought it back to Arus." Shiro motioned an answer to that.

"I think that's my fault." Keith read. "When Ulaz released me, he sent me after the Blue Lion. According to him, they had just located it and were about to go looking for it. So when I managed to get to a pod I was sent to Earth immediately."

"What do you mean by _sent_?" Allura questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"An explosion to cover my escape, knocked me out in the pod. Ulaz must have programmed it ahead of time to send me back to Earth. The next thing I knew I was in Garrison quarantine."

"Where we found you." Keith concluded, after relaying Shiro's response. Shiro nodded. Pidge then turned to Allura.

"We were all cadets at the Garrison when we saw Shiro crash-land on Earth."

"Well most of us were." Lance shot an annoyed glance at Keith, who just stared blankly, as normal, back at him. His eyebrows furrowing in disinterest of the Blue paladin's statement.

"Okay, who's next." Coran broke the silence, away from the glaring

"I'll go." Pidge decided...

 _"Hurry up, Katie!" Matt called, pulling harder on her hand as they ran. Where they were going, at the time, she didn't know, but she ran faster nonetheless. Bae bae barked at their heels, as they ran through the kitchen._

 _"Slow down you two." Their mother called after them. Bursting out the door they ran toward the familiar shape of a Garrison car. The commander at its controls stepping out to greet his excited children, to which the two jumped into his arms._

 _"Ugh, well hello to you too." Sam strained, steadying himself again. Bae bae licked his cheek and his two children hugged him tightly. "Ok, ok, I've only been gone a month." He laughed standing up. He ruffled Matt's hair and pulled Katie close. Bae bae just stood there wagging her tail, happily waiting for her masters' next move. "So. How have you two been?" Sam asked as they strode back toward the house._

 _"Great, but we've missed you." Pidge told him, hugging him again._

 _"All the kids in our classes were excited to hear about your trip to the moon!" Matt told him excitedly._

 _"Well.." Sam was at a loss for words. "That's..good to hear. I'm actually quite flattered. But one of my lieutenants deserves some credit too."_

 _"Who?" Pidge asked._

 _"Wait." Matt froze. "You mean, officer Lieutenant Shirogane!" The young man's eyes sparkled in saying that name._

 _"Who's that?" Katie asked again._

 _"You don't know who Shiro is?!" Matt gasped. "He's only the most famous guys in all the Garrison."_

 _" One of the most famous, Matt." His father corrected._

 _"Shiro's one of the best pilots that Garrison has ever seen. And he's been in so many missions!" Matt raved. "He's broken like a gizillion Garrison records, even when he was a cadet. He's practically a legend!!"_

 _"Now, now, Matt." Sam broke in. "Shiro may be good, but he's not the only one."_

 _"I know dad." Matt shrugged coolly. "But he's the best!" He thrust his elbows down with his hands balled into fists, showing how awesome he felt about his idol._

 _"He sounds great." Pidge commented, resting her elbows on the railing of the porch. Facing out towards the yard._

 _"Oh he is." Sam confirmed, from his chair. Matt was swinging the porch swing back and forth quickly, when the front door opened and Colleen Holt emerged from it. She brought with her a tray of mugs which she set carefully down onto the small coffee table._

 _"Who's up for some coffee and hot cocoa." She announced, handing her husband his coffee._

 _"Me!!" Matt cheered._

 _"Me too." Pidge called, not quite as excited as her brother. But the smile on her face indicted her delight. Brother and sister sat down next to each other. Taking a sip, the smell of the warm, chocolaty drink filled their nostrils. The two children let out a satisfied sigh, when chuckling from their parents got their attention._

 _"What's so funny?" Matt asked, arching an eyebrow. Colleen and Sam shared another chuckle._

 _"Um," their mother said, then pointed to her mouth. The two looked at one another, and saw that they both had mustaches from the whipped cream. Realizing now what was funny they all burst out laughing together. Matt took another sip, when a big slobbery tongue licked the chocolate off his face._

 _"Aagh! Puh pluh pluck!!" Matt spluttered, "Bae bae!!" As Matt wiped his face, his family laughed some more..._

 _...Pidge was disturbed from her sleep in hearing voices out side her bedroom door, which was letting only a sliver of light in. Quietly getting up she inched towards the door. Squinting one eye through the crack, she saw her parents, their backs to her. And just beyond them standing across the family dinner table, was a tall man. He was was so far way and the crack was so small that she couldn't get a good look at him. But she could make out the Garrison uniform, and he had dark hair, which had a forelock that hung down a little over his face. He spoke in a calm gentle voice. And the way her parents talked to him, was just as calm and gentle. 'They must be friends' she thought to herself. Their voices were so low that she couldn't hear them from where she was. She wanted to go out there, but didn't want her folks to know she was awake._

 _"I should be getting back." The man said finally. "Thank you for the opportunity, Sam."_

 _'I knew they were friends!' Her thoughts stated._

 _"It's my pleasure." Sam told him. "Have a good night."_

 _"You too." The man said, he then Turin's and left. As the door closed, her parents footsteps headed for their room..._

 _..."Hey Matt." Pidge called, after her brother as they walked down the street towards their schools. She soon fell instep with him as she went on. "Did you hear the stranger that showed up last night?"_

 _"Yeah." Matt confirmed. "Did you?"_

 _"Yeah. Any idea who it was?"_

 _"Couldn't tell." Matt sighed. "Too far away. Couldn't get a good look at him." He paused before glancing up at her. "Your room is closer, did you see him?" She hesitated._

 _"No, not really. All I know is that he was tall, had dark hair, and spoke in a low voice."_

 _"Oh well," Matt shrugged. "Maybe we can ask Dad about it later." The school bells rang, interrupting their conversation. "Well, got to go, see you later, Katie." Matt called, crossing the street to the middle school. She gave him a little wave the hurried up to the door of her school..._

Pidge looked at her hands in finishing her story, then glanced up at the others.

"We never did find out who showed up that night." Pidge commented. Shiro signed and Keith said:

"I remember that night." Pidge's eyes widened.

"It was you?!" She gasped. Shiro nodded, then continued.

"Sam had asked me to come because he had something to tell me. He wanted me to know that he was selecting _me_ , for the potential mission that was the Kerberos mission."

"So you were there to talk to my Dad. But why so late?" Keith's fingers formed Pidge's question.

"I had training late, that was the only time I had available at the time." Shiro returned.

"My father was like that for a while." Allura recalled. "When he was a Paladin. I didn't see him as much because he was so busy. And with the rift experiments on Daibazaal, he wasn't around as much as he was at first...

 **Hey guys how's it hangin'?! Hope you enjoying this story. I actually haven't fun writing this. The story idea is kind of just a filler to add content to the story. But I find, now, that it's a good way to get to know different sides of the Paladins. And this may be staged in season two. But IDC(I don't care!) creating this theses stories about each of the Paladins has been kinda fun. Anyway, thank for reading. Peace!!**


	4. What Went Wrong

Chapter four

 _"Allura!" Alfor's soft voice called, seeing his precious daughter racing into his arms._

 _"Father!!" The girl responded hugging him tightly. Allura's mother strode up to them from the Castle._

 _"Melenor, my love." Alfor greeted. "How I have missed you."_

 _"You've only been gone a few vargas Alfor." His wife giggled._

 _"Yes, but it felt like deca-phoebs." The king of Altea grinned mischievously. The two then shared a tender kiss before heading back into the Castle together. The other four Paladins joined them for dinner, as they often did. Alfor had insisted they stay._

 _"Alfor," Zarkon spoke up mid-way through the meal. "Have I not told you how amazing your ships are?" Alfor took a sip of his glass of Nunville, and shot him a teasing grin._

 _"Only about a thousand times, Zarkon." Alfor and the other occupants of the dinner table shared a hearty chuckle. Zarkon glanced around, unamused by his comrades' joking. "Oh come now, old friend." Alfor beamed. "We don't mean much by it. Voltron IS an incredible machine. You'd almost swear they were people too." Allura giggled quietly, having heard all about how Voltron and what it could do._

 _"Yes, they are." Zarkon continued, his gaze unchanging. "No one has seen anything like it. The power Voltron possesses is like none anyone has ever seen. If only there were more of these...trans-reality comets. We could create more ships of its kind."_

 _"But doesn't that make Voltron special?" Alfor's smiled fading a little. "Being the only ships of there kind, and built from the only space rock of its kind?"_

 _"Think about Alfor." Zarkon reasoned quickly. "With more powerful ships, we can defend the universe better than ever before! We'd have a better advantage in battle than ever before."_

 _"Zarkon does make a good point." Trigel, pilot of the Green lion, stated._

 _"Yes but where would we find another comet. The one Alfor built the lions with crash-landed on Daibazaal a few deca-phoebs ago." Blue Paladin, Blaytz, pointed out._

 _"We'd just have to searched the universe until we find one." Zarkon decided. "And keep searching until we have enough for Alfor to build new ships, as amazing as Voltron."_

 _"Zarkon... I-"_

 _"Right?" Zarkon cut Alfor off mid-sentence. The look in the Galra Emperor's eyes looked nothing like the Zarkon he once knew. Alfor almost didn't recognize him, with this behavior._

 _"Perhaps." He said finally. "But as Blaytz said. "We haven't even a clue if another comet exists like that."_

 _"And the best way to know is to start looking." Zarkon reinforced his previous statement._

 _"But Zarkon." Alfor protested once more. "Haven't you enough things to worry about?"_

 _"I'll manage." Zarkon returned confidently. "I have so far." Alfor just stared at him. Zarkon refused to look at him as he continued to eat..._

 _..."Father why do you have to go?" Allura asked her father, as he tucked her in one night._

 _"I must, because the universe needs Voltron." He father told her, pulling the blankets up over her chest. "And Zarkon can't defend it without me."_

 _"But must you always." Allura questioned further._

 _"Allura, as you grow older you'll learn what it means to have the weight of responsibility. As future queen of Altea, you'll discover that your people are more important then anything else. And as a Paladin, to which I hope you one day achieve the honor, will find that the weight of the universe out weighs the needs of any one person. Even yourself." Alfor's tender loving smile reinforced his words. And the two hugged for a moment, father and daughter... together..._

"I will never forget that night." Allura finished, shifting her weight forward onto her knees, and bracing her elbows on them. "My father always seemed to have an answer to any question I would ask."

"That's a good thing to have Princess." Shiro signed, as Keith interpreted.

"My dad is like that too." Pidge agreed, grinning at the thought of her father.

"So." Hunk hesitated before continuing. "Do you think there are more trans-reality comets out there?"

"I can't be sure," Allura sighed. "But if there is we can _not_ let it fall into Zarkon's hands."

"That wouldn't matter though right?" Lance thought aloud. "I mean Zarkon wasn't the one who built the lions,... right?"

"Alfor may have built the lions." Coran confirmed. "But as advanced as Zarkon's technology is, he may be able to find a way to build a comet ship himself."

"I know as much as anyone that, their science is advanced enough that they could very well have the information to build their own Voltron." Shiro signed.

"And how can you be sure." Lance questioned. All Shiro did was activate his Galra arm and held it vertically up in front of him.

"Oh." The Blue Paladin answered with wide eyes. "Yeah." He crossed his arms and looked away, frustrated by his defeat. Shiro deactivated it and laid his arm down across his thigh, as Pidge spoke up.

"It's hard to believe that Zarkon and King Alfor used to be friends." She said, unable to imagine it.

"I know what you mean." Shiro motioned. "After all I endured as their prisoner, it's hard to imagine that it wasn't like that once."

"Believe me. No one saw this coming." Coran agreed. "Alfor knew Zarkon was changing, but he hadn't truly realized _how much_ he'd really changed,... until he did...

 _...The door slid open, where a Galra soldier stood guard over the chamber._

 _"Where am I?" Zarkon's low gruff voice asked. His eyes still emitting a yellow, bubbly glow, and his pupils masked by this glow._

 _"Uh.. aboard your ship sir." The soldier stammered in surprise._

 _"Take us home." The Galra Emperor's voice remained a one-note tone._

 _"I-.. can't sir." The soldier responded sadly. "Daibazaal... has been destroyed." Zarkon's eyes narrowed tensely in hearing this, anger bubbling up within him..._

 _...the castle jerked under their feet as shots rained down on the castle._

 _"Father what's going on?" Allura cried._

 _"Coran get a visual." Alfor commanded from the teludav._

 _"Yes Alfor." The royal advisor obeyed, pulling it up on the big screen. A Galra cruiser showed up just in time to see a blast from the ion cannon flash into the cameras lens. The face of the Galra Emperor suddenly took its place._

 _"Zarkon." Alfor's brows furrowed._

 _"Your fleet has been destroyed, Alfor." Zarkon reported. "I will there shortly to claim Voltron." Another blast hit the castle directly at them, blinding them all._

 _"Father we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late." Allura cried. Her father straightened up from supporting himself against the teludav handles, defeat painted upon his grave face._

 _"It's already too late." He said finally. "We must send the lions away, we can't RISK them falling into Zarkon's hands."_

 _"We can't give up hope!" Allura insisted, trusting her fist down to her sides. Alfor strode to his daughter._

 _"I'm sorry daughter." Alfor placed a hand on her right cheek. "If all goes well, I will see you again." A tap to her neck sapped her energy as she slipped from consciousness, but not before uttering her father's name; only to hear him say:_

 _"I love you." After that her world faded into darkness..._

 _...The cryopod materialized around the sleeping princess. The king, then, turning to the man accompanying him._

 _"You must get this castle in the air." Alfor told Caron. "You must run and take Allura as far away from here as you can and put yourself to sleep."_

 _"But what about you?!" Coran protested._

 _"I must stay here." Alfor sighed, putting on a grave face, sword in hand. "To make my stand." Coran's eyes widened in realization of his meaning. "But there's just one more thing I must do first."_

 _The door to a dark chamber revealed more darkness. Alfor and Coran slowly submerged themselves within it._

 _"Are you sure about this?" Coran asked, both men staring at something at the center of the room._

 _"I owe it to her." Alfor responded simply, pain hinting in his tone. Coran knelt down and tapped at the panel, and a large capsule rose from the floor. Alfor stood in front of the capsule and closed his eyes. The castle's crystal glowed on the bridge, as he focused his energies. Extending his arms out he began to glow blue, and this light peeled away from him creating a blue reflection of himself. That blue replica materialized and flowed up and into the capsule. And suddenly the fields of Juni-berries burst into existence. Alfor stood back and opened his eyes again._

 _"It is done." He said..._

 _...Explosions rang out around the castle grounds. Flames were consuming the Altean home-world, it's king scanned the chaos. The fire flickering his, people screaming and fleeing, There's sounds reached his ears as nothing more than an echo of his defeat. The lights reflected off his eyes, while also displaying the despair stabbing him in his chest._

 _"You made a huge mistake, Alfor." Zarkon's voice shattered the King of Altea's gaze._

 _"Zarkon what is the meaning of this?" Alfor questioned, his clenched teeth holding back what anguish he felt. He was biting his tongue, so to speak, for he still thought of Zarkon as his brother-in-arms,... a comrade, a fellow Paladin, and, most importantly,... a friend._

 _"You know as well as I, that Voltron is the only thing tying the two of us together." Zarkon replied dryly._

 _"What?!" Alfor staggered, both over his feet AND his words. "Have you gone mad?! Of course their is more to it than that!"_

 _"Only to you." Zarkon's eyes narrowed. "Now where is Voltron?" The Altean King stared at him for a second._

 _"Why do you need to know?" He responded. "What must you need it for."_

 _"That is of no concern to you." Zarkon snapped. "Tell me where they are, and I'll leave you and your planet alone."_

 _"I.." Alfor drew his sword intently. "Don't know that I believe you."_

 _"I'll ask again. Tell me where the lions are, or be destroyed." Zarkon sneered._

 _"I can't do that." Alfor returned, firmly._

 _"Then you have given me no choice!" Zarkon's voice rumbled as his tone increased in volume, has he charged toward the Altean, formerly known as his friend. As he ran the bayard in his hand glowed and became a long Galra sword. Alfor held his blade close, preparing to defend himself. As their swords clang together their gaze stabbed into the other's as well._

 _"Where is the Black lion!!" Zarkon thundered._

 _"I've hidden somewhere you'll never find them!" Alfor shouted back, now sounding brave, as well as angry. And flung Zarkon off of him. "Zarkon, stop! After all that has happened, how can you turn your back on us? And all we've been through together. How can you, after all these years, insist, now, on hurting me. And what about our duty to protect the universe for the good of our people?" Alfor's eyebrows furrowed, the tenderness he still felt for Zarkon still poking out on his face. "We had a bond,.. a partnership."_

 _"That partnership died the moment you destroyed Diabazaal." Zarkon snarled menacingly, eyes narrowing to mere slits. Alfor flashed a look of horror and Zarkon came again. The two shared they're biggest battle of swords they had ever known. The clang of their weapons echoed in Alfor's ears._

 _"Give me Voltron!!!" Zarkon's voice practically shook the ground._

 _"I will do no such thing!!" Alfor shouted back. "You shall never possess such immense power ever again!!" Rage burned within Zarkon's chest, bursting up from the pit of his stomach. Up and out of his chest, through his throat and out his mouth in the form of a battle cry so loud the mountains themselves might crumble in their midst. The alien Emperor's voice cut through the noise of destruction, as his blade sliced through the Altean King's flesh. Alfor let out a gasp, dropping to his knees,... his body fell limp to the ground. Nothing but another weak gasp was heard from him. And then... silence. All but the crackle of the flames around them remained._

 _"Lord Zarkon!" A Galra soldier emerged through the smoke. "The day is ours. What are your orders?" Zarkon stood straight up again and turned to peek over at him with his peripheral vision._

 _"It's is time I repay the favor." He said simply._

 **Hey everybody what's up?! This part of the story was kinda hard because the battle between Alfor and Zarkon. I had to go back and rewatch a couple of episodes to get an idea of what I needed to do. To get the accuracy of the story and make up some things along the way. So some of the lines and descriptions are from the show, and some are just my own stuff. You guys should be able to recognize which is which throughout. But, I think, Coran's recollection was the hardest with all I put into it. But more chapters will be on the way soon!! Thx!!**


	5. Goofing Around

Chapter five

"After that, I imagine, was when Zarkon destroyed Altea." Coran finished his tale as thoughtful as the Paladins looked.

"Wait, you didn't see it yourself?" Pidge asked in surprise.

"No." Coran returned. "Once I launched the castle, I was sent in to cryogenic sleep with Allura. Alfor must have set the course to Arus before he left to confront Zarkon."

"So... that's how you ended up on Arus." Keith breathed thoughtfully, his fingers shaping this for Shiro to read.

"Yes." Coran's face showed his despair of the painful memories. "It is."

"Sooo...Hunk." Keith turned his attention to the Yellow Paladin. "What's your story?" Hunk thought for a moment...

 _"Alright students eyes up here." The teacher called from her desk. The distinct chatter of the children obediently died down. "Over the last few weeks we've been talking about space, and all that it entails. But today... I've brought with me, someone who has been in space many times. Some of you may know who I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't." The teacher glanced at the open door and flexed her pointer finger beckoning someone to come in. And a tall, black-haired man in a fancy grey uniform entered. He wore a warm smile on his face and his black forelock couldn't mask his gentle grey eyes. As soon as he entered though, the chattering amongst the students returned. The atmosphere was full of excitement, and Shiro could feel it._

 _"Class," the teacher said. "This is Garrison Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane." A round of applause immediately erupted from the excited children._

 _"Thank you." Shiro's grin widened. "I've been sent by the Garrison to schools in the area to search for the next generation of space travelers." He began, the children tentatively holding on to his every word. "I've been to many schools already, but I think some of you might have what it takes. So who's ready to find out?" Hands and 'oh!'s answered him immediately. "Alright then," Shiro nodded, "then let's go outside, I've got something to show you." Hunk's were fixed on the newcomer, anticipation had sparked in him as soon as he had walked in the door..._

 _...'Level complete!' Flashed across the screen. Shiro peered around at them from the pilot seat. The students eyes wide with wonder._

 _"Neat huh?" Shiro smirked at their reactions. They all nodded together their astonishment not melting away. "Then who's ready to give it a try?" All hands were thrust into the air. As each of the children took a turn, Shiro stood back to observe. He watched each one carefully, seeing how well each handled themselves in the simulator._

 _"Here is the list you require." The teacher told him, handing him a tablet. "These are the highest ranking students that your simulator had noticed."_

 _"Great!" Shiro kept his calm, cool, and collect demeanor. "I'll show these to my superiors and be in touch with you soon. I think are quite a few promising students here."_

 _After packing up the simulator or the return back to the Garrison, Shiro and the teacher gathered together all the students outside to school._

 _"Before I go," Shiro was saying. "Does anyone know what the Garrison is all about?" A boy with light brown hair and freckles raised his hand. And when he was called on he gave a quiet answer._

 _"It trains more people to be space explorers?" He wasn't sure he was right in saying this._

 _"That's right." Shiro confirmed. "The Garrison is designed to train the next generation of space explorers and prides itself on truth, honor, and teamwork. And some of you might be just what we need. I'm going back to the Garrison to inform them of what I saw today. And those who have the most potential will be asked to come and train with us. And when the time comes, we will be in touch with you soon." And as Shiro climbed into his car, the children cheered and waved goodbye to him, as he waved back then drove away. And a dark-skinned, wide-eyed boy stared in awe after him..._

 _..."Hey Hunk, how cool was that simulator thing!" Lance raved as the two boys strode down the hallway after school that day._

 _"I don't know, pretty cool I guess." The boy couldn't stop thinking about Lieutenant Shirogane and what he had told them. He felt a stirring of excitement just in thinking about it._

 _"You ok buddy?" Lance asked, seeing how distracted he was._

 _"Huh? Oh yeah!" Hunk responded, shaking himself out of the memory. "I just can't believe all that has happened today."_

 _"Yeah. I mean I've always wanted to go to the Garrison. My sister goes there. Ever since then I've really wanted to join her."_

 _"I know." Hunk shot him a teasing glare. "You've told me about that like, a million and a half times."_

 _"Yeah, Yeah, whatever." Lance said, brushing off his friends look, nudging him playfully. "But don't you want to too? I mean, I've told you about the Garrison before, but after what you saw today don't you want to be apart of that too?"_

 _"Ehh maybe." Hunk shrugged one shoulder casually. "But I don't know how good a pilot I'd be."_

 _"You don't have to be a pilot." Lance braced an arm over Hunk's shoulder, as they stepped outside into the fresh fall air. Then he looked up in thought. "You could be an engineer."_

 _"What's that?" Hunk gazed at him quizzically._

 _"You know." Lance shrugged. "Fixing and buildings things like you do with your dad sometimes, only for planes and all that junk."_

 _"It's not junk!" Hunk raised an eyebrow, despite his smile still remaining._

 _"You know what I meant!" Lance gave a playful punch to his friend's arm and the two shared a short chuckle._

 _The next day during recess, the teacher called aside a few of her students individually. Hunk looked around for Lance when his name was called._

 _"Hunk, may I speak to you please?" His teacher asked, gesturing for him to come inside._

 _When he came out again Lance was standing there waiting for him._

 _"Hunk guess what!!" He asked excitedly, hardly able to contain his excitement._

 _"What?" Hunk asked, seeing his friends bottled up enthusiasm about to pop._

 _"I got a note saying that the Garrison wanted to ME to go study with them!!" Lance howled excitedly, thrusting his elbow down and his fist up._

 _"Hm, funny." Hunk said, calmly smiling. "Me too."_

 _"You did?! Really?! Sweet!!" He high-fived Hunk, and they stuffed the notes into their pockets for safe keeping, until they could put them into their backpacks later..._

"After that, the two of us were headed to the Garrison." Hunk finished shooting a glanced at the Blue Paladin, who returned his signature grin. His pearly whites catching a seemingly none-existent light.

"I can remember when Shiro came to my school too." Keith remarked. A smile hinting upon his face, recalling the memory. "I was staring out the window most the time... Didn't..even want to focus or make eye contact." He looked down and away, embarrassment flashed across his Facebook the form of a slight blush. Shiro poked him on the shoulder.

 _"I remember that day."_ He signed, an amused smile on his face. _"Both if them."_ Keith's lips curled up a little more.

"Of course you do." He said simply. Shiro gestured with a wave of a hand. "My turn. Oookaaaay." Keith squirmed awkwardly, trying to think of what to say. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder and Keith met his gaze.

 _"Relax."_ The Black Paladin told him. _"You can do this. Remember, patient.. yields.. focus."_ Keith drew in a deep breath. And suddenly a story popped into his mind...

 _...A Lieutenant and cadet strode down the halls of the Garrison. Neither of them spoke, neither of them made eye contact. Training had just finished for the day, and the cadets and their teachers were aloud a free-for-all time to hang out with each other. This didn't happen often, because of the tight military atmosphere that the Garrison kept within their ranks._

 _"Remember to act natural." Shiro whispered to Keith. His stiffness showing his insecurity._

 _"You need to too." Keith smirked loosely. "You're terrible at keep up appearances."_

 _"Uh, wha- what?! No I'm not!!" Shiro stuttered, playfully nudging the boy. Keith keeping his mischievous smirk about his face. Shiro pushed past Keith and blindly walked out around the corner, but was interrupted by a fleshy wall._

 _"Shiro?" The young lieutenant froze immediately pure surprise light up his face. Sam Holt's eyebrows furrowing in a quizzical stare._

 _"Uh- Sam!" Shiro managed to say. He straightened up with arms folded tensely behind his back and his shoulders back,... and kind of up. His eyes darted to Keith and back to Sam._

 _"Are you alright?" Sam's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the younger man. Keith stared blankly between the two of them, expressing a calm innocent look._

 _"Um, yes I'm fine- I..I..I mean we're fine. The uh... the two of us...together." Shiro stammered. Keith could hardly contain a smile. Matt peeked out from around his father. "We uh.. were just gonna go spend some quality.. alone time- together." Shiro pulled Keith close by the shoulders._

 _"Alright. Well have you two." Sam gave in, walking away slowly. Shiro dropped his shoulders and exhaled quietly, then ushered Keith on down the hall._

 _"Hey where you guys going?!" Matt called after them, falling in step with them. "Can I come?"_

 _"Only if you can keep a secret." Shiro returned, peeking down at him._

 _He quickly opened a door and shoved the two boys through it. Shutting the door, he flipped on the lights... to the simulator room._

 _"What- are we-.. doing here?" Matt asked in confusion, cocking his head._

 _"Training." Keith said as Shiro hopped into one of the simulators. "You coming?"_

 _"Ha, heck yeah!!" Matt rushed to nearest one and hopped into it. Keith, Shiro, and Matt activated their simulators and were soon immersed in a space mission scenario. They were enjoying themselves, but Shiro still felt this nagging feeling that he continued to try to put to rest. But it still persisted._

 _"Guys," He spoke up finally. "It's getting late, I think we should get out of here before we get caught." A groan rumbled through the com system._

 _"Aw, come on Shiro," Matt complained. "Just a little longer. Besides what the Garrison doesn't know..."_

 _"Won't hurt em. I know." Shiro finished for him. "You always say that. But it's time, we've been playing for awhile. And it's almost time for lights out." Keith hesitated._

 _"Come on Shiro," he coaxed. "Just five more minutes, please." Shiro thought for a moment._

 _"Fine." He sighed, finally gave in. "But no longer."_

 _"Yes!" The two boys cheered. So the game continued..._

"We never did get caught." Keith smiled at the memories. "Even though Shiro always worried we would."

"What?!" Hunk was in disbelief.

"You guys did that?!" Pidge half screamed. Shiro nodded, nearly blushing.

"That was one of those days when we just wanted to cut loose and be people. The Garrison has always had a tight disciplinary behavior they expected from their students... and staff." Keith recalled, glancing around at the other Paladins.

"I can't believe it... you: Shiro; legendary pilot and role model to all cadets, breaking Garrison protocol." Lance thought aloud.

"Yeah. I almost don't believe it." Pudge agreed. Shiro smiled and Keith held in a chuckle.

 **Hey guys how's it hangin'! Hope you're still enjoying this story. So as you can tell I'm trying to make up some good fun stories for each other the Paladins. And, I admit, Hunk's was not very good. But I hope you still liked it. Anyway more chapters will be on the way. Idk how many but hopefully there will be many more to come! Thx!**


	6. Fond Memories Shattered By Tragedy

Chapter six

"Ok Shiro." Pidge braced her arms straight as she leaned forward, and tapped her feet on the floor. "Your turn." Shiro looked down, combing his memory for a good story to tell. The Paladins watched his patiently as he thought. Then finally, the Black Paladin's face turned grave, and even pain.

"This story may not be as easy to process as the others." Keith interpreted simply...

... _Shiro's hair flopped against his sweaty face. His laugh echoed like a distant memory, as he ran through the field of dirt, dust and trees. The footsteps behind him egged him on. Coming onto the grass he ran around the tree and scurried up the tree house ladder. He huddled around the corner of the entrance, and muffled a giggle with his hand. When a hand reached around and dragged him down into firm arms. The man smiled down at him, and then, laying on the ground, tackled him playfully. The boy's hearty laugh made the man smile wider. Ending there tickle fight, they sat up and Shiro turned to his uncle and signed._

 _"I wish you could visit more often."_

 _"I know, me too." His uncle returned, shaping his response. They hugged and Shiro continued._

 _"The Garrison is such a great place!" He motioned. "I can't wait til I'm big enough to go. Then I'll be just like mom." Uncle Kogane's chest jerked in a silent chuckle._

 _"I don't doubt it." He gestured back. "You always did take more after you mother." They exchanged a knowing grin. And glanced up toward the small house behind them. Peeking through the shades at them, Ms. Shirogane couldn't help but smile at seeing the two of them together._

 _"Why do you live so far away?" Shiro asked his uncle tentatively._

 _"Well kiddo," his uncle began. "It's cause, with my health issues, I can't live too far away from the city."_

 _"But can't you live out in the country like us?" Shiro wondered, eyebrows furrowing together._

 _"'Fraid not son." His uncle shook his head as he signed this. "Not everyone is able to like you and and James. You and my other nephew aren't as... prohibited as I am."_

 _"But you seem so able?" The boy continued. "Like you could be a Garrison pilot yourself." His uncle gave a silent chuckle._

 _"Kid, I wouldn't even be given the option if I wanted to." He gestured sadly._

 _"Why not?" Shiro asked innocently, standing up. His uncle gingerly heaved himself up again._

 _"After the war, I was in pretty bad shape. My military training was there but my physical ability wasn't quite up to par... the military is physically and mentally demanding... and my body just can't take it any longer." Shiro dropped his gaze to the floor, but was raised again by a firm hand on his shoulder._

 _"You have a dream to reach the stars." His uncle motioned him. "And I want you to enjoy every second of it. Cause one day it may be taken away from you." Shiro couldn't hide a frown, as he broke his uncle's gaze. He knelt down to the boy meeting his silvery grey eyes. "Hey, just promise me that; in all you do, remember that patience yields focus. And that you'll always keep a calm clear mind, to do what's right. Promise me that." The boy stared at him for a few minutes._

 _"I'll try." He signed finally._

 _"That's all I ask." His uncle's smile was contagious and he couldn't stop one from cracking across his own face. And his uncle drew him in for a big bear hug..._

 _...Voices could be heard from his parents' room. But it wasn't his mother and father's. As he peeked through the could make out, his uncle standing in the far right corner nearest to the wall in which the door was on. He stood right next to the bed and Shiro's mother stood at the foot of the bed towards the left side. Her arms were crossed and her eyes narrowed into her brother's._

 _"What is wrong with you!!" She was saying, her voice full of hurt and disappointment._

 _"Nothing I-"_

 _"Don't!" She cut him off, her fingers showing her agitation as she spoke. "Don't try to cover for yourself. You know that this will kill you!"_

 _"Akari, I have to." Her brother told her._

 _"For who? Yourself?!" She returned coldly. "You have nothing to prove, other than how stupid you really are! I thought you were better than this!"_

 _"I'm not trying to prove anything." He signed, also becoming increasingly upset. He drew in a deep breath, then continued. "It's just,... I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."_

 _"So what? You're gonna go ahead and make it worse like it doesn't matter?" She questioned him with her eyes and her tone. "Michael this could kill you, and you know it."_

 _"It's worth the risk!" He closed his eyes firmly._

 _"No it's not!" His sister insisted, her voice being heard with everything she signed. "Do you have any idea what this'll do to us? To Takashi?!"_

 _"Don't do that, Akari, that's not fair!" Michael threatened gently._

 _"Neither is going back to war one last time!" Akari's eyes challenged her brother's. "We still care about you, and we don't want to see you get hurt!"_

 _"What does it matter, I've only got a few more years to live so what's the point of prolonging the inevitable outcome!" Micheal motioned, his body tense and irritated. Akari's expression broke painfully, as though she had just received dooming news. "I'm sorry, Akari." Micheal continued, his body language softening a little. "But this is something I need to do... for myself. I'm going." Shiro accidentally stumbled forward and the door fell open. The two siblings turned to see the boy's terrified eyes._

 _"Takashi!" His mother gasped. "I-" But before she could say anything more, the boy turned and ran back out of the room and retreated out the door. Akari turned away and interlocked her fingers behind her head, frustration and regret overwhelming her. Micheal just stared after Shiro, the look of concern staining his face..._

 _...Tears streamed down his face, his sobs were muffled into his sleeves. His knees were pulled up against his chest and his back against the treehouse wall. His arms covered his face. A knock on the wood entrance made him look up, his tear-stained eyes staring blankly forward. Slowly he turned and crawled over the the ladder, he peered down to see his uncle standing there. His eyes showed his regret, and looked misty with emotion._

 _"Can we talk?" He signed simply. The tearful twelve-year-old hesitantly made his way down the ladder and, turning to face his uncle, wiped away another tear._

 _"I'm sorry about-.. what you saw." His uncle began. "I never meant for you to see that." Shiro stared at the ground._

 _"So are you really leaving?" He asked, looking up._

 _"I don't know." Micheal signed tenderly. "But I just want you to know that, if I do go,... I will return."_

 _"On a stretcher maybe." The boy's response and sarcastic expression showed his doubt, as he looked away. Micheal's eyes widened and his eyebrows scrunched together._

 _"Why do you say that?" He motioned, surprised by what his nephew had just said._

 _"Mom said that going back could kill you." Shiro's eyes teared up again, as they stared into Micheal's. "So why do you still want to go?" The boy's eyes bore into the older man's soul, it felt, to him, like knives being thrust into his chest._

 _"I may not have another chance." His uncle answered finally._

 _"But if you're going to die soon..." Shiro continued. "Don't you want to spend what little time you have with us?"_

 _"Of course I do." Micheal gestured, taking step closer._

 _"Then don't go!!" Shiro cried aloud as he signed this, then wrapped his arms tightly around his uncle. Micheal hesitated before wrapping him in the hug that was given to him. As they finally drew away, Micheal extended his arm fully from the boy's shoulders before removing them to gesture:_

 _"Ok, I'll think about it some more, before I decide." He told him._

 _"Please decide to stay." Shiro signed back. Micheal held him close by his shoulder as they turned to head back into the house. But after taking a step Micheal grunted and his knee buckled under him and he hit the ground._

 _"Uncle Kogane!!" Shiro's voice screamed, in horror. As Micheal attempted to get up his arms shook and he fell flat against the ground. Tears flooded to the boy's eyes as his uncle lay there coughing and wheezing trying to get up. As he stood up he screamed with all his strength... "Mama!!!"..._

 _...Micheal gave a slight cough and cleared his throat, oxygen not lending his lungs any aid. His body ached and his breath was becoming hard to draw in. The pins and needles feeling felt like many bee stings and then numbness would follow, crawling up his legs. His body failed him, and his mind was slipping away. Shiro squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the noise._

 _"Takashi." Micheal's indistinct groggy voice cut through his mental torment. Hurrying to his uncle's side, he clasped his hand gently. He hadn't realized that his uncle had a voice, other his fingers that acted as his voice. This was the first word he'd ever heard him utter vocally. His uncle's weak eyes opened to display the pain he, no doubt, felt. Lifting his hand shakily up, he began to slowly sign something._

 _"Takashi, do you remember what I always told you?" He asked._

 _"That patience yields focus?" Shiro wondered._

 _"No. About what I said along with that."_

 _"Um you said to enjoy every moment of my dream, before it's taken from me. That I should continue til I can't anymore."_

 _"Good." Michael nodded contentedly. "I just have one more thing to add to that."_

 _"What?" Shiro motioned._

 _"I want you to grow up to be a man of integrity." Micheal coughed weakly. "Someone everyone can look up to. To do your best no matter what. And to fight for what you believe, even when others tell you otherwise. I want you to do what is asked of you... unless you absolutely know it's wrong. And most importantly, grow up to be the best pilot you can be. Live you dream, and never take it for granted. And never lose your incredible leadership skills, I have a feeling they're gonna come in handy someday." Michael managed a weak smile, his eyes validated the depth of his words..._

 _...the church bells rang, but they sounded distant to the young man in Black. He sat in the pew, unable to look up. He refused to look up, for fear that the sight of the box containing the life he'd lost just a few weeks earlier, would break him. He had promised himself to be strong saying to himself that he could feel it later, when no one was around. His eyes were fixed on his hands fighting back the tears and the lump in his throat. The pressure in his heart threatened to burst through his chest, but he fought that as well. His mother had already been crying, and his other relatives listened sorrowfully to the preacher's message. At the end of the service friends and family gather around him and his mother and grandparents. Shiro felt numb to their condolences, like nothing could shake him from this trance that seemed to surround him. All he heard was his uncle's dying gasps, and the silence that soon followed._

 _"Let's go Takashi." His mother's voice sounded distant, as everything else did, as she took him by the hand and led him to the car. And as the sun slipped away and the light of day faded, so did the memory to which he was recalling..._

...Shiro brushed away a tear before it could slip down his cheek. Trying desperately not to crumble right then and there. The room was silent, no one knowing what to say. Nothing but pain and loss dripped from the Black Paladin's face. They wanted to say something, but just when one of the them would open their mouth to speak; the words died in their throat. Keith placed a firm hand on Shiro's shoulder and gave it a tender squeeze, knowing nothing else he could do.

 **Hey what's up Shiro fans!!! So Shiro's story took a while to think of because I had so many things I could do. But ultimately I felt that this was the best fit and most of this was written as I went but I think I turned out great. Idk, let me know, hope you enjoyed it. Thx!!!!**


	7. Disappearing Act

Chapter seven

"I'm so sorry Shiro." Keith mumbled after a seemingly forever-long silence. And although he knew Shiro couldn't hear him, he still felt that his heart would.

"I can't believe that happened to you." Pidge said. Keith passed this on to Shiro who dropped his gaze, before lifting again.

"My father died when I was ten and my mother disappeared later that year after my uncle passed away." Shiro signed. "Some may think I had a perfect life. But they'd be wrong. I've suffered my fair share of tragedies throughout my life."

"Yeah no kidding!" Hunk agreed thoughtfully, unable to imagine what Shiro had just told them.

"You know- you didn't have to share that with us." Allura told him.

"I know." Shiro motioned, as Keith continued to interpret. "But I felt it was important." Suddenly a painful flash hit him and he jerked forward. It came again and Shiro grimaced grabbing his head with his right hand.

"Shiro?" Keith asked, "You ok?" Another hit came, which dizzied him a little. Zarkon's face flashed across his mind. His eyes opened wide I realization.

 _"The Galra!"_ He signed to Keith. _"They found us!"_

"What?!" Keith cried aloud as he motioned back. "How?!" Shiro gestured something and Keith responded with: "how do you know?" Shiro and Keith seemed to back and forth, the rest of the team looking from one to the other.

"What do we need to do?" Keith asked, and Shiro gestured something. "Well we have to do something or we're gonna get into trouble." Shiro motioned calmly. "Yes I know that Zarkon his still fighting for the Black lion, which is exactly why we should take him down." Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder then motioned something further. "You're right Shiro." Keith heaved a big sigh. "We're not fully prepared to face them head on again, yet... I know. Then at least let's buy us some time to get away again." Shiro nodded and the two turned to the rest of the group.

"Um, care to share with the rest of the group." Lance crossed his arms in disgust. Their conversation was interrupted by the castle jerking under their feet.

"What the heck was that?!" Lance screamed in surprise, lifting his head up from where he landed.

"That's what we were talking about." Keith groaned rolling his eyes. "The Galra are back."

"What?!" The team gasped.

"How is that possible?!" Pidge cried.

"I don't know but we need to get out of here." Keith decided as they all rose and headed for the bridge. The ground shook again as they entered. Each Paladin headed to their place, dropping down the shaft to get to their lions.

After launching them, they engaged the Galra together. Pidge and Hunk stuck close by each other as did Keith and Shiro. Lance was all over the place blasting as many fighters as he could, as though he was competing against someone.

"How do they keep finding us?!" Allura cried hoarsely, from the castle.

"I don't know!" Pidge called, taking another blast.

"What do we do?!" Lance screamed, continuing to evade attack and returning fire. Keith thought or a moment, then closed his eyes upon making a decision.

"Time to cut the head off the snake." He mumbled to himself, then he thrust Red forward jetting through and around the Galra fleets focusing fire on Shiro and Black.

"Keith?! What are you doing?!" Allura called to him in seeing what he was doing. No answer, as he disappeared around the side of the Galra central command ship.

"Maybe he's got a plan." Coran suggested, but Allura just stared at the screen.

Black took a heavy blast to the head, and Shiro silently groaned and tried to hold it steady. He could still feel Zarkon trying to take over his lion. The Black Paladin looked around, zeroing in on three colored lions. _But where was the fourth?_ He thought. Knowing who was missing he continued to search for the Red lion, while at the same time fighting off the ships that surrounded him.

A sword jammed out of the duct, and it's owner emerged stealthily from it. His grayish-blue eyes darted about, searching every direction. Creeping along the wall, he dashed down the hall. Sentries' footsteps stopped him and he ducked behind the pillars that jutted out from the walls. When the sentries' footsteps faded again, he moved on. Keeping his bayard drawn, Keith made his way toward the bridge. Avoiding detection was proving difficult, but feasible, for the Red Paladin. Upon reaching the final doors leading to his destination, he drew in a deep breath before using a decapitated sentry's arm to open the door. As the door slid open, he dove into the shadows masking him from view. As he made is way around, he prepared his attack. Finally plucking up the courage, he plunged from the shadows letting loose a battle cry from the depths of his being. But his hopes to end this, were shattered by the Galra Emperor catching his blade squarely between his hands. Keith's eyes shrink and he let out a confused _'huh?'_ , and Zarkon slammed him to the ground. He tumbled a short distance, landing in a heap against the wall.

"You are foolish as your leader for coming here." Zarkon's one-note tone gave no indication of emotion from the alien warlord. Keith was unsure of his meaning, but he pushed the thoughts away to go at Zarkon again. The two skirmished for a while, Keith stood squarely facing Zarkon. He was about to attack when a seering pain blasted through his body from behind, and he fell limp the to ground. The witch stood a few feet behind the motionless Paladin, her arm still outstretched; a stoic expression upon her face. Zarkon and Haggar stood staring across at each other, as Keith gave a slight moan.

"Ahh!" Allura cried, as a blast shook the castle again.

"We need to get out of here!!" Pidge called, over the com.

"Yes, but how? And where?!" Lance screamed, taking another blast.

"Hey?" Hunk asked openly. "Where's Shiro?" The Paladins eyes widened. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance frantically searched for their leader.

"There!" Allura shouted zeroing on the Black lion. A Galra cruiser's tractor beam was on it and he was pinned down my Galra fighters.

"Shiro!!" Pidge cried, thrusting her lion forward.

"Come on!" Lance shouted to Hunk. The Yellow and Blue lions slammed into the cruiser from both sides, knocking out the tractor beam. Pidge fired her lasers clearing the fighters away. Shiro appeared on her screen, and thank her with his hands.

"Paladins return to the castle. We must wormhole away, now!!" Shiro caught something to his right out of the corner of his eye. _Galra fire?_ He split away from the group, who were headed to the castle.

"Shiro?! Ugh, now where is he going?!" Lance groaned, pulling his lion around to go back. Nearing the area, Shiro realized that it was wasn't Galra fire, but the tractor beam once again. It was sucking up the Red Lion, _Keith!_ Jumping into action, he thrust Black toward the cruiser. He drew the jaw blade and slashed through the ship, causing it to drop the lion. He was immediately met by fighters again. But then, he was also joined by the Blue, Green, and Yellow lions that covered him. They gave just enough time for him to get to the Red lion, and retreat with it, back toward the castle once again.

"Keith! Are you ok?!" Allura called. "Keith!!" No answer. "Something's wrong." She mumbled to herself.

"I want every fleet after that castle to capture the lions of Voltron immediately!!!" Zarkon rumbled.

"Understood." Haggar bowed her head slightly. "Pursue them!" She ordered one of the commanders.

"They're gaining on us!" Pidge said, tracking them from her lion.

"We need to gain more speed to get enough distance to wormhole away!" Allura panted, sweat starting to roll down her face.

"Diverting power to the main and rear thrusters," Coran reported, tapping frantically at his controls. The boosters blazed and the castle sped on, with the Galra still tailing them. "We're clear to wormhole!!" Coran called. Allura closed her eyes, and creating the wormhole, Coran guided the castle into it.

Shiro sprinted blindly to the Red lion's hanger. If the other Paladins were following behind him, he wouldn't have known. Mostly because of his lack of hearing, but also because he hadn't a care if they were or not. The door couldn't have opened any slower for the Black Paladin, he felt like everything was moving in slow motion around him. As soon as the door was wide enough for him, he slipped through it. He had expected to find Keith passed out or something. But his heart clenched in his chest in seeing nothing, Keith was nowhere to be seen. The cockpit was empty, and Shiro's world caved in on him. He could feel his heart begin to thump in his chest, and he almost felt sick in the moment. The paladins, who had, in fact, followed Shiro stood there behind him, their mouths agape at the empty room.

"Keith's... gone?" Lance managed to say, his heart skipping a beat at the thought.

"Yeah, but where?" Pidge wondered. Shiro remained stalk-still, right where they'd found him. Hunk stepped forward, reaching out to him.

"Shiro?" As soon as the Yellow Paladin's hand touched the older man's shoulder, his thrust his head up. He whirled around to head back the way he'd come. But was stopped by Hunk and Lance.

"Keith!" He managed to say, Hunk and Lance restraining him, he extended a hand out. He tried to push passed the two younger men, as if in a nightmare-like trance.

"Shiro, where do you think you're going!!" Allura questioned, placing a hand on his chest stopping him short. He gestured something quickly, but, of course, no one understood it. He tried to leave again, half in a panic. He had finally gotten past the Yellow and Blue Paladins, but Pidge cut him off with a hand then a hug, one that pulled him out of his panic attack. And the Black Paladin dropped to his knees, returning the embrace.

 **What is up everybody!! So sorry for leaving you hangin', but I myself got a little hung up on the story. But here it is! Also I've kinda been working on some other fanfics and getting ideas for new ones. Along with a whole lot of other stuff, unrelated to fanfic. But anyway, idk what the next step is here but I hope you like where this is going! Thx!!**


	8. The Search

Chapter eight

Though Pidge had said nothing, her actions spoke louder than words. When they broke apart, Shiro lifted his knee up as if to get up. Pidge tenderly took his forearms encouraging him to stand, once up she took his hand and led him away out of the lion. The others looked at each other quizzically before following suit.

The Green Paladin sat the distressed Black Paladin down in his chair, then took out her laptop, just as the team caught up with them. Sitting on the arm of the chair next to Shiro, Pidge typed something and set the computer in his lap. The team remained silent, watching them. Shiro's depressed expression stared at the screen. For a moment, Pidge wondered if he was actually looking at what she wrote. She finally got her answer when Shiro slowly began to type something. The team drew closer to read over his shoulder what was being done. On the screen read Pidge's message:

 _"Keith is missing, but that doesn't mean he's gone. We're going to find him. We just need to figure out what happened."_

Shiro's response was just under it:

 _"How could lose him so easily? Where could he have gone? How did he get separated from his lion? And why hasn't the Red lion gone to rescue him?"_

Pidge took the computer and typed:

 _"I don't know. But we won't rest til we find him."_

Reading this he looked up doubtfully, but Pidge returned a tender smile; placing a hand on his shoulder. Shiro's look of doubt became a slight smile, as he placed a hand on top of hers. The Green Paladin then looked up at the rest of the group.

"We need to start figuring out what happened to Keith." She said simply.

A Paladin's sight faded in and out of darkness, blinking a few times his vision cleared. His back ached and his head felt heavy. It thumped when he tried to stand. His black hair was plastered to his neck and face from sweating. _How long had he been out? And where were the others? Had they been captured? And where were Shiro and the Black lion?_ All questions running through Keith's mind. Having become accustom to the dim light, he scanned to walls; which informed him of his location.

"Great!" Keith cursed under his breath. Just then footsteps could be heard in the hall outside, they stopped and the door opened. The dark silhouette of the witch was cut out of light that emanated from down the hallway. The witch remained where she stood as to soldiers stepped around her and entered the cell. Keith struggled against them, but the pain in his back screamed at him; dragging him down in his efforts of escape.

"Did anyone get a visual of where Keith went?" Pidge asked the group.

"I caught a glimpse of him heading toward the Glara's main ship." Allura confirmed. "But he disappeared behind the ship and I don't know what happened after that." Shiro typed something and Pidge leaned down to read it.

"He says he noticed that Keith was gone and when he tried to look for him the Galra fighters had him pinned down. And then the tractor beam caught him." Pidge said, standing at her full height again.

"So something may have happened to him." Lance figured.

"Duh, Lance." Pidge scoffed, her crossed arms and annoyed expression indicating her distaste for his obvious comment. "But what did happen?" She adopted her thinking face in saying this. Shiro could tell they were thinking about Keith, and racked his brain for ideas as to where Keith could have gone. But then it hit him and his eyes widened, his fingers finding the right keys in no time. He, himself, was amazed he could type that fast, since he really wasn't that 'techy' as the other Paladins called it. And he knew that they were right, he couldn't believe how computer-savvy some kids were these days. Especially Pidge, she had impressed him from the very beginning, and still does so. Shiro had never known a more versatile computer genius. She never ceased to amaze him with her intellect and tech-savvi... _ness_ , if that was even a word. Pidge read his words, and slammed her palm into her forehead.

"Of course!!" She said aloud. "Keith must have gone after Zarkon alone." Pidge's brain suddenly caught up with her words, and the meaning of this became clear. "But then that means..." she trailed off, unable to bring herself to finished her thought.

"No!" Allura breathed, her eyes widening. "There's no way!!"

Cries of agony forced their way into the otherwise empty air. The weak Paladin slumped against the shackles holding him against the table, as the shock died down again.

"If you will not tell us what we want to know, we will take further, more extreme, measures of interrogation." Haggar snarled in his ear.

"I.. won't tell you.. anything!!" Keith snapped back, between labored breaths. His eyes bore into hers almost as sharply as hers into his. Anger bubbled up in the witch, her frustration of his resistance beginning to get on her nerves. She silently called for another shock and Keith's cries rang out in the small room. As his body relaxed, yet again, Haggar spoke again.

"If you will not give in, well see too it that _the rings_ will." The emphasis on those two words was all Keith needed to know, to understand what she meant.

"Keith can't be gone!!" Allura insisted. "It isn't possible!! He's a Paladin of Voltron! And apart of this team!"

"Which is exactly why they would take him out." Pidge insisted for the third time.

"Wait, hold on guys!" Hunk put his hands up in front of him, as he stepped up between the two girls. "Why are we just assuming that Keith's dead?"

"Because they wouldn't waste their time on him!!" Pidge shouted in her ugly frustration.

"Yeah, but why not?" Hunk questioned further. "I mean, when they took Shiro he wasn't a Paladin. And when they took Allura, they didn't kill her on the spot; like we thought they would. So why would they do that to Keith?" Pidge was bursting at the seams. Rage boiling up in her about to burst, when the realization of Hunk's reason put a stop to the bubbling anger in her heart.

"Wait, you're right?!" She realized finally. "They wouldn't just kill him on the spot."

"But when the Galra captured Allura they kept her, because she knew where the lions were; and were gonna use her against us to get them." Lance pointed out. "And Shiro was taken by them, because he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yes, but now that we're all Paladins of Voltron, we may have information that is of use to them. Or we're a bargaining chip for the Lions." Pidge explained.

"True." Lance concluded. "But then what do we do?" The clicking of keys broke the silence. Pidge leaned over and around his shoulder to read Shiro's message.

"Have you been hearing us?" Pidge asked him, pointing to her ears. Shiro shook his head. "Wow you're good." The Green Paladin commented giving him a thumbs up. "Shiro's got a plan." She told the others, glancing up.

Darkness turned to light was a door slid open, making the person standing before it shield his eyes from the sudden light. The bellow of the crowd sent chills up Keith's spine. _So this is what it was like for Shiro._ He thought. The sentry handed him a sword and gave him a shove out into the open arena. The four pillars marking where he was to fight. He strode gingerly forward as the crowd booed him. Blinking in the light, he could see that the stands were filled with Galra, all here to see his demise. Once standing inside the large square at the center of the giant arena, he gazed around at the crowd. A noise caught his attention as a door on the opposite side of the ring slowly went up; revealing his first opponent...

..."Keith will most likely be in the central command ship." Pidge read Shiro's typed message.

"Psh, duh." Lance scoffed sarcastically. Pidge shot him a distasteful scowl, then went on.

"Shiro says we need to act 'under the radar' to get Keith back. If the Galra find us out, they might try to use him to get the lions. And we can't let that happen."

"Yes, but we have to find out where Galra central command is, if we're going to sneak onto it." Allura agreed.

"Well we can try to get a fix on their location, with our long range scanners." Coran suggested, pulling up the protocol.

"But what if they're too far away?" Hunk asked, shrugging.

"Then we'll just have to keep moving til we find it." Pidge decided, pulling up the ship's position on the map. Shiro wrote more:

 _"Too risky."_ It read.

"But then how are we gonna find him!" Pidge wondered. Shiro blinked, still unable to understand moving lips.

"Right." Pidge typed her question down, realizing his confusion.

Shiro thought a moment before getting up and silently walking away.

"Shiro?" Hunk asked just standing there, blindsided by this response. Pidge wasted no time in following him, neither did Lance. They sprinted after the Black Paladin; Hunk, Allura, and Coran not far behind. Though everyone had to run to catch up, Shiro remained at a slow stroll. Though his body on a mission, his stride was smooth and calm. The hanger bay door retracted back before him and he slowly approached the red lion, which was still sprawled on the ground from the earlier battle. The Paladins finally caught up with him, stopping a few feet away from him. They all gazed past him at the decapitated lion, its eyes dark and lifeless without its Paladin. It remained on its side with its legs crossed over each other, it's mouth slightly open. Shiro turned so his shoulder was perpendicular to them and the lion. He pointed at Red and then faced them. He pointed two fingers down and covered them with his other hand, grasping them together. Then finally he pointed to his head. Coran fiddled with his mustache in thought. Allura took on an awkward stance, rubbing her foot behind her other ankle. Hunk and Lance stared at him blankly. And Pidge thought with her hand to her chin, with her elbow supported by her other hand.

"Oh! You're saying that Keith's bond with the Red lion will guide us right to him!" Pidge guess excitedly. Shiro just stared unable to hear her answer. She quickly took out her phone and typed in what she'd said and showed it to Shiro, who read it and nodded. Pidge grinned happily, proud of herself for guessing correctly. Somehow this game of charades to understand Shiro was kinda fun, despite the circumstances.

"So we just need to get the Red lion to go get Keith." Pidge inferred, beaming.

"And how are we going to do that?" Lance questioned, with arms crossed across his chest. Pidge then looked down again, the revelation of their predicament pulling her away from awareness temporarily. The ground shook as the Red lion suddenly came to life, pulling itself up off the floor. It roared loudly and it's lights flashed on. Upon seeing this, his glance dropped a second, Shiro knew what was coming. The lion faced the open hanger and took off.

"Where is it going?!" Allura cried, in horror.

"I thinks going after Keith?!" Pidge said, staring blankly after it. Everyone's eyes were glued to the open space outside, and the small buzzing light of the Red lion's thrusters already far in the starry distance. Lance glanced at everyone to his right, his eyes widening.

"Hey, where's Shiro?!" He glanced back and the rest of the team followed his gaze. Another blast was heard. And a second set of the thrusters appeared out the open hanger door, chasing after the Red Lion.

"Shiro!!" The team called after him.

 **Hey fanfic fans! What up?! Sorry I haven't posted to this story for a while but I had things... and I got hung up on some parts. Anyway this chapter was a kind of a way to move the plot along. As always ideas are welcomed and I'm sooooo glad you guys are enjoying this fic!!!! Shout out to Gravtron for giving me the best comments I've ever had, so thank you!!! And I will try to get the next chapter done soon and posted as soon as I can. Til then... enjoy!! Thx!!!**


	9. Rash Reactions

Chapter nine

"Open up the com system." Allura commanded as they re-entered the bridge.

"Shiro what are you doing?" Allura's face appeared on the screen of the Black Lion. He typed something down and sent it to them. His message flashing up in the castle screen, reading:

 _"I'm gonna follow the Red Lion to Keith. Stay put, when I find the Galra central command I'll send you the coordinates. Once you get them, wormhole there immediately. I'll try to find a place that can hide the ship for a sneak attack. We may also need the Green Lion's cloaking ability."_

Every one looked at each other, Allura's gaze not breaking. The team, then, turned their attention to the silent princess, who closed her eyes then nodded to Shiro. When they disconnected, Allura placed a hand in her forehead, with her other arm holding her elbow; signifying her frustration.

Keith tumbled back again, his body aching and burning from being beat around. His sword was, surprisingly still in hand. He'd made it this far, but how many more foes will he have to face before they realize he can't be broken. _I just have to keep his up a little longer._ He thought. His train of thought huffing and puffing with his breaths. His lungs stung and his sweat rolled down his face and neck. His jet black locks were completed soaked, and plastered to his neck. The door opened for what seemed like the thousandth time, revealing a foe that was, surprisingly, around his own size for once. Most, if not all, of his opponents had been bigger than him... by a lot! The stranger sped forward sprinting towards him with their arms back to gain more speed, a blade in each hand. Both long and narrow, like giant steak knives; without the ridged edge, but Keith bravely prepared to defend with the one blade he had. The two battled forever, their swords clanging together at all angles. His exhaustion pursued him further, he had scratches and bruises. And he could swear that something was broken somewhere. His back burned like the sun, and he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. His body screamed at him to stop, but he ignored it's pleas; knowing that it would cost him his life otherwise. He barely had the strength to stand, but somehow found the strength to keep fighting. He had no idea how he was doing it, but yet again he finished the match with one final sweep of his blade. The sword slashed his opponent's abdomen and they fell lifeless beyond him. The crowd screamed in a mish-mash of cries. Good? Bad? He didn't care, all he wanted was to leave and be with his team. His mind drifted to Shiro and his worries about how the team were doing in trying to understand him. He wondered it they'd found a way to communicate with him, without Keith translating his sign language. A horn sounded jerking Keith back into reality, as a couple of sentries approached him. _Great, now what?_

The Red lion continued to jet on ahead of Shiro. He kept Black fixed on Red. It almost seemed like the Red Lion was intentionally leading him to Keith, like it knew he was going to follow. But still,... Shiro couldn't help but let his mind wander; wander off into a realm of memories only he knew...

 _"Shiro, you're training is going well, why mess it up with more responsibilities?" Keith questioned from the bench. Shiro closed his locker gently, the turned to face the young man._

 _"Because it can better my status." He responded. "The more things I know, the better chances I have for getting sent on missions. Plus, it's good to practice what I've been taught to a younger generation. Besides, part of being a Garrison pilot is passing on what you've learned the next generation that will one day take your place at some point."_

 _"Yeah but you're already stressed as it is. Don't you think you're stretching yourself a little thin?" Keith began to pry, knowing that it would eventually annoy his friend._

 _"Mhm maybe." Shiro shrugged. "But it'll be worth it in the end. I'm sure of it."_

 _"I hope you're right." Keith gave in, pushing his hands into the pockets of his Garrison uniform..._

...Shiro remembered that day like it was yesterday, but wondered if he had been right to push himself. Or if maybe it was a mistake. But then he recalled another memory that changed his mind...

... _Micheal hammered some more boards together. He shifted his weight on to his right palm to reach over the long platform he was building, and hammered down the nails sticking out of the golden wood. He brushing the sweat away from his brow with his long forearm. And a figure stood in his peripheral view, forcing in to look away from his work. He was delighted to see his beloved nephew standing there beside him holding a bucket of nails. He motioned his thanks, and Shiro set the bucket down next to him. The boy smiled, happy he had helped... even just a little bit. He felt pride swell up in him, he was little, yes. But he knew that you don't have to be big to be a big help. Micheal chuckled silently, he found his nephew's pride to be quite amusing. The boy ran back to his mother at the edge of the tiny yard. Hugging her leg, she set her hand gently on his head, as the two watched him work. Micheal looked up and smiled at the two of them. Akari returned one and motioned to him, saying it was time for dinner. Micheal nodded and said ok, and with that Akari picked up her five-year-old Takashi and carried him into the house. Micheal and Kiyoshi, Shiro's Father, would soon follow..._

...Shiro remembered how his father and uncle had worked hard and succeeded in finishing that shed. And that they never gave up no matter how hard it was. He remembered his uncle to be a risk taker, like himself; guess that's where he got. Shiro gave a light chuckle at this. Uncle Kogane never gave up no matter how hard it was. Maybe he _had_ made a good choice in what he'd done after all. His uncle turned out ok, and so did he. But he wondered if maybe there was something he was missing. Something about himself that didn't know, like an unlock chest waiting to be discovered. He already knew one treasure chest he'd opened, and now he couldn't imagine life without Keith. He knew he had to get him back. _No matter what it takes._

Pidge slumped in her seat, boredom written across her face. Thought she still worried about Keith, and she was, now, also worrying about Shiro. Lance lay on the floor with his arms and legs sprawled out, staring blankly up as the crystal above him. Hunk just sat there on the floor next to him, with his left leg extended out and his other foot pulled up against his thigh. His arms were braced back to hold his weight, as he reclined back onto his palms. Allura leaned her back against Coran's side, as he himself stood leaning against his control panel; a hand on her shoulder. The Princess's posture, along with her crossed arms, displayed her anxiety of their situation.

"I don't like this!" Allura finally blurted out. If we're not careful we could lose Keith, Shiro, _and_ the Black lion. And it'll only be a matter of time before they demand the rest of the lions."

"That's not gonna happen." Hunk encouraged, getting to his feet. "Shiro will find out where Keith is, and he'll tell us as soon as he does. We'll get Keith back, and everything with be fine... I hope." The Yellow Paladin tried to sound fully optimistic, though he feared that his tone betrayed him.

"Thank you for trying, Hunk." Allura found a slight smile had reached her face. "But I'm not sure it's that simple." She hesitated before continuing. "Finding Galra headquarters is one thing, but sneaking onto it and breaking Keith out is another. And we don't even know that they have him."

"I think Shiro's right, though." Pidge remarked. "If Keith was here one time and gone the next, he _had_ to have disappeared during the fight. Meaning he could very likely have been captured."

"I don't know." Lance sighed doubtfully. "But say it's true. How will we know if he's there?"

"We can scan for him, like we did Allura." Coran explained. "But getting aboard the ship undetected it the bigger challenge."

"But what if they catch us before we even get _near_ the ship." Lance questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Then we'd have to move quickly." Allura said, her unrelenting determination told them they were going through with the plan; whether they were spotted or not.

The Red lion suddenly took a sharp turn, but Shiro skillfully kept pace with it. The lion landed on an asteroid and sat quietly, it's lights going dim. As soon as Shiro landed on the asteroid himself... WHOOSH!!

 **How's it going guys!! Can't wait to write the next chapter. This story has been one of the funnest ones I've done yet! So thank you all so much!!! More is yet to come, but, of course, I'm not sure how much more. But glad you're still enjoying this! Thx!!! 3**


	10. Signals Crossed

**~warning: mentions of blood~**

Chapter ten

An alarm sounded on the castle bridge, startling everyone. Lance was so spooked that, he scrambled up and practically jumped into Hunk's arms. The Yellow Paladin struggled to keep his balance, since he, himself, was still sitting down as well.

"What was that?!" Lance cried, half in a panic.

"It's Shiro!" Allura read it immediately, her face brightening. "He's sent us his coordinates."

"He must have found the Galra command ship." Pidge guessed aloud. Hunk set Lance down and they looked up and read the words; though neither of them understood the coordinates.

"Then let's go." Allura decided, and Coran turned to his control panel.

A bright light cut through the darkness. The locks of sweat-soaked, jet-black hair unable to shield his eyes from it. His dark blue eyes blinked in response to the sudden light. Keith struggled against the restraints, the pain in his back still burning a hole in his body. The scratch on his shoulder continued to throb, and his head was spinning; even while laying down. The door shifted open and two masked Galra technicians entered, followed by a small crew of three or four other Galra. The darkness and blurred vision made it difficult to make out the anything. His breath quickly escaped his chest, only to slowly be drawn heavily back in. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe... and see for that matter. His senses were dulled by pain and delirium, his mind barely able to think in straight lines. Keith wonders if this nightmare would ever end,... if he would ever make it back to his team alive.

"Now let's see what we can make of him." He heard one of the Galra scientists say. Though his hearing echoed and felt a little distant. But, still, he knew the meaning of this statement all too well...

Black swerved and dove through the air, Galra fire raining down on them. Shiro's thoughts fully focused on evading them as long as he could. He hoped the Red lion was still safe where he left it. But glimpsing over to it the answer was a huge relief, as the lion was still hiding quietly where it had landed. Shiro threw Black into a barrel roll in avoidance of an ion cannon blast, now worried that their plan was going to fail. The team were hopefully gonna show up soon. _And when they do they'll probably be seen right away._ His mind concluded. _We'll be exposed!_

The castle burst through the wormhole. The shadow of a destroyed planet hiding them from Galra view. The planet seemed to have died deca-phoebs ago, and had a crater scooping out almost half the planets contents. It looked like a ball that had been bitten into by something big. Debris and rocks floated everywhere around it. And the battle on the other side of it continued to rage on. The screen zeroed in on the Galra ship, just barely peeking over the arch of the planet's dead crust.

"There's the Galra central command ship." The Princess pointed. "Contact Shiro." Pidge immediately jumped on the order.

Pidge's face appeared on the Shiro's screen, telling him all he needed to know. He typed something down, as soon as he did, though, a blast slammed him off balanced. And he continued to fight. The screen pulled up Shiro's message reading:

 _"The Galra spotted me, but the Red lion is safe. We need to find Keith now!"_

"Shiro's right." Allura said, after reading it and closing her eyes. "Let's begin." She finished, opening them again.

Pidge launched the Green lion, plunging it as fast as it could possibly go. She saw Black lion throw off another fighter, still surrounded by more; as she approached it from behind. Leaping onto its back the two vanished from view. Pidge's message appearing before Shiro, it read:

 _"I've got you under my cloaking, let's go get Keith."_

Shiro nodded and, together, they jetted through the fleets of confused Galra fighters. Upon reaching the main ship, the cloaking had to come down. The Green Paladin crawled out of her Lion to meet Shiro. The two stopped to stare at each other, before Pidge took his forearm and placed his hand against the Galra ship. In doing this, Shiro knew what was being asked of him.

A glowing purple hand burned through the metal wall. The piece cut out of the wall slid away to allow the two figures behind it, access to the room on the other side. Pidge and Shiro slipped silently into the dim-lighted hall. They peered both ways, one looking left, the other right, and vice versa. Taking off to the left, Shiro lead the way, stopping to count the intervals of the sentries' patrols; as he'd done before. Cutting across the hall and diving around another corner, Pidge managed to keep pace with him. She tracked their movements with a holomap on her gauntlet. Shiro slowed, then flattened himself against the wall; just as a couple more sentries passed by. Peering around the corner, he saw more Galra; but something felt different about them. Shiro quietly slipped around the corner to follow them.

"Shiro!" Pidge whispered, forgetting he couldn't hear her. But a shadow being cast over behind her, made her turn mid-sentence. A Galra sentry stood there, blaster held up across its chest diagonally. "Quiznak!" Pidge cursed. She quickly zapped it with something on her gauntlet and ran away. The sentry's systems all short circuiting from the shock. She ran around the corner and came to a fork in the hallway. She stood there gazing down both. "Uh guys." Pidge whispered over the com. "I think I just lost Shiro."

"What?!" Allura gasped.

"How did you lose him?!" Lance questioned.

"I don't know, I got caught up in something and I turned around and he was gone." Pidge answered, a little frustrated, dashing down the left hallway.

"Well you should've been keeping an eye on him!!" Lance's annoyed tone cracked through the com link.

"What do you think have eyes in the back of my head?!" Pidge argued, still keeping it low as not to attract attention. She concealed herself behind a pillar, as a entries paced by her.

"No, but you could've at least watched where he was going!" The Blue Paladin accused her.

"I was a little busy at the time, Lance." Pidge was beginning to really annoyed, almost wishing she could reach through the com system and slap him or something. Arrivng at a four-way hall, she glanced down each direction.

"Allura, is there a faster way to find them?" She asked.

"Scanning the ship for them now." Coran answered her question. "I see two Paladin trackers. One's still on the move."

"That's _got_ to be Shiro." Allura figured. Stepping closer to the screen.

"We need to get in there!" Lance said, thrust his fist up and pumping it into his chest.

"It's too dangerous to make a move." Allura told him. It's up to Pidge and Shiro to get Keith and get out of there.

"Isn't there _some_ way we can help?" Hunk asked, having been silently watched this whole time. The two Alteans thought for a moment.

"Actually there might be a way." Coran thought aloud.

Shiro peeked around, yet, another corner, before slowly advancing into it. Peering around him as he went, he stopped when he glanced behind him. His eyes widened at seeing no sign of the Green Paladin. Snapping back into reality, he turned and ran down the hallway behind him. Running around into another one and pressing his back against it, his breaths a little heavy. _Great! I've lost Pidge. And I still haven't found ANY sign of Keith. Some day this is turning out to be._ Shiro's mind thought. He cursed himself for not paying attention, then continued on; knowing he had to keep moving. Checking his gauntlet he noticed a tracker was synced on his location. _That's gotta be Pidge_. A smile flashed across his face, but instantly faded when he looked up. He stopped dead in his tracks, in seeing blasters pointed in his direction.

Keith screamed in agony, the breath he had left was barely enough to keep his lungs moving. His injection site burning with every needle inserted. A technician flicked a small vile before inserting it as well. Keith began to feel distant, despite his instinct to struggle. He thrashed about, desperately trying to escape. But his body seemed to ache more, the more he moved. His heart pounded in his chest. The sting of his wounds and the amplified nerve drug administered as the start of this nightmare screamed at him, silently begging them to stop. He could feel blood trickling off his right arm and onto the table. And every pin and needle sensation from their instruments exploring the exposed tissues. They had peeled back some of his skin, to dissect down to where it was necessary for them. His eyes were wide in realization of what they were doing. He found the strength to struggle more, certain that his wrists were starting to bleed as well. His cry echoed into the empty vents, as another wave of pain crashed over his body.

Pidge ran as fast as she could. Slicing through a vent, she slipped into the duct and scrambled down it. Blaster fire nipping as her heels. Though she was small, she fit pretty well in the small dark space; the sentries on the other hand could not. An advantage she was glad to have at times, being small enough to squeeze into small spaces. Finally getting a moment to rest she checked her gauntlet, the two dots signifying her friends were both still. This was an alarming sight to see. Her eyes widening in terror as to what this could mean.

Zarkon stood up from the platform from which he stood.

"They're still here." He said in a low voice. "Somewhere..." his eyes narrowed more to become small slits on his face.

"What will you have us do, Lord Zarkon?" A commander asked, holding a fist up across his chest in a respectful one-legged kneel.

"Find them... and take them out." The emperor instructed simply. Galra fleets continued to search the area. When a sudden _BLAST!!_ , shattered the silence.

"Let's do this Hunk!!" Lance called, jerking the holographic handles of his drone around.

"Right behind you!!" The Yellow Paladin called. The drones were so small that the Galra scanners hardly picked them up. And they had taken them by surprise, so they hadn't enough time to adjust to defend against them. Blast after blast, the drones weren't quite as powerful as the lions, but they _did_ do damage.

"Hehe-yeah, buddy!!" Lance called excitedly, "we're doing it!!"

"And with you separated from castle in you're lions..." Allura remarked from the teludav. "We can finally retrieve the Red Lion." She finished as the lion appeared on their scanners. As they hovered closer though, Red's eyes lit up and it roared, taking off into the battle.

"What?!" Allura breathed, "where is it going?!"

"It must be going after Keith!" Coran guessed. Allura watched the lion continue toward the looming ship in front of them; as it's thrusters became smaller and smaller. Coran steered the ship back into the planet's shadow, hiding it once again. But the lasers of battle and the ship beyond the dead planet's horizon, was where Allura's gaze still lie.

 **Hey guys, finally got the next chapter done. This story has been soooooo fun, but I gotta say I get hung up sometimes(as I'm sure we all do at times. ;D). Anyway, as shown above their were mentions of blood here, there have been more mentions in this story than any I've written before. But I don't think they're too bad, just the same I hope you're still enjoying this story. And I still don't really know when this will end, but hopefully there'll be much more to come!! I still have quite a few ideas yet to come! So stay tuned and I'll see you next time!! Peace!!!**


	11. Recovery!

**~warning: small mentions of blood~**

Chapter eleven

Another sentry dropped to the floor, only to be replaced with another one grabbing him in a choke hold from behind. Shiro's breath caught in his throat. His frustration of the situation enabling him to push through. And reaching his glowing alien hand up behind his back, he pulled the sentry over his shoulder and stabbed his hand through it. His breaths abruptly jerking his chest in and out, as he knelt there. He hand on his shoulder made him whip around, extending his glowing hand out to meet the surprised face of the Green Paladin.

"DaAHHH!! Shiro its me, it's Pidge!" Pidge cried quickly, holding her hands up like she was about to be arrested. She stumbled on her words, as her eyes widely glanced directly at the glowing weaponized extremity five inches from her face. Shiro's eyes flashed and he lowered his hand, motioning an apology. Pidge smiled and motioned back, placing a hand on his arm.

"Now let's go get Keith." She said, gesturing for them to go. Shiro nodded understanding the meaning of her actions. Heading on down the hall, Pidge heard a cry she recognized. Taking Shiro's hand she led him toward the sound. Stopping to kneel down next to another corner, the Black Paladin following suit. She carefully leaned over and peered around it. Another cry and sounds of a struggle echoed from a room guarded by two Galra soldiers outside the door. Shiro peeked around her to see what she did. The two exchanged and glance and a nod, and crept out from around their hiding place.

The silence was shattered by a green cable weapon slamming one of the Galra soldiers across the cheek. And the other one attacked by a man's unusually strong right-handed punch. Making sure they were out cold, Shiro, then, made his way inside the room. There were seven figures standing there around the table, flashbacks of himself on that table suddenly flashing across his mind. Shaking himself out of it, he lunged for the closest Galra there. The attention shifted from Keith on the table, to the intruder in seconds. A couple Galra trying to wrestle Shiro down. His weight shifted back and he hit the wall, he then slammed one Galra into it; freeing one hand. Slicing through the pair of sentries. And powering the other Galra down. One of the masked technicians delivered a shock to the man's side. Shiro nearly fell over when it ended and stumbled toward the table. Steadying himself against it, the two masked techs prepared to grab him from both sides. Unfortunately for them, their faces met Shiro's fists as they lunged forward, both fell limp to the floor. Shiro stood there to catch his breath for a second, he, too, was getting tired by now. Battle hadn't been easy for him, and he knew it wasn't gonna get any easier. Not with Zarkon around.

"Shiro, you ok." Pidge said, finally rushing in to join him. She placed one hand on his hand and one on his shoulder; Shiro's palms not leaving the table in front of him. She patted his arm, and knelt down to disable the shackles that held the weak Red Paladin's arms and legs down. She then ran around the other side to get a good look at him.

"Keith?" She murmured to him. Keith's head lay toward her, his eyes slowly peeling open.

"P..Pidge?" His voice weakly croaked, barely audible.

"That's right we're here." The Green Paladin smiled. She looked up at Shiro, and Keith slowly shifted his head to follow her gaze. Shiro's head was downcast, his white forelock shielding his face. As he lifted his face up, they could now see the gash above his left eye, blood slowly sneaking down his face from it.

"Sh..Shiro?!" Keith breathed, shuttering at the chills running up and down his spine.

"I'm here Keith." Shiro motioned to him.

"We need to get out of her... now." Pidge said, trying to help Keith up. But her small size made it difficult. Without thinking twice, Shiro came around and slung Keith's other arm over his shoulder they walked out together. Pidge was nearly drowned by Keith's arm, because of how short she was. But that didn't stop her from trying to help make it easier for her wounded friend.

"Guys we've got Keith, we're heading back to our lions now." Pidge reported.

"No, head for the Red Lion first. It wants Keith. And it'll destroy this entire ship to do it." Allura instructed, tensing at another attack.

"But why not let it?" Hunk asked. "I mean that would help us wouldn't it?"

"No Allura's right." Pidge cut in. "Keith is in too bad of shape. We can't stay here any longer than we have to. If we take Keith to the Red lion, it'll take us to our lions and Keith back to the Castle. It wants to protect us, just as much as it does Kieth."

"That's right." Allura finished. "Now Pidge. The Red lion is not far from your location. There's an airlock that you can access to get to it."

"Great, that's just where we need to be. And we can retrieve his bayard and helmet on the way." Pidge said, looking at her holomap.

"Excellent. We'll continue to cover you as best we can. But we need to get out of here soon." The Princess reminded her.

"Copy that Princess, were on it." Pidge said, pointing in the direction they needed to go for Shiro. Keith was barely walking, though he never fell because Shiro kept a firm grip on him. "There's the airlock!" She pointed as they came around the corner. Coming up to it, Shiro placed his hand on the screen, his Galra hand granting them access to the airlock. Having retrieved Keith's helmet, they placed it on him, Pidge held on to his bayard. Shifting her right hand to hold Keith's arm over her shoulder, she activated her helmet and swung her left arm to bash the button; releasing them all into space. Shiro held on to keep from floating away, Keith releasing a weak moan. Shiro and Pidge caught a glimpse of the Red lion biting into the ship again. The lion suddenly froze and looked in their direction. Crouching down, it launched itself toward them. Hurtling faster and faster, as it came closer to them it slowed to allow a smooth pickup, and jetted on through the sea of Galra ships.

"Allura! We have the Red Lion! And Keith is safe." Pidge reported.

"That's great, Pidge!" Allura smiled. Shiro entered the cockpit, he watched the screen. Then jerked one of the handles over, pointing it towards the Black and Green lions; which were waiting patiently for their Paladins to return. The Red Lion read his mind and without further hesitation, flew on towards them. As Shiro and Pidge exited Red to get to their lions, Shiro glanced back at the lion. He pointed for it to go, and, strangely enough, the lion immediately turned and jetted away toward the Castle. Green and Black launched and followed Red, leaving the Galra ship behind. Only a short distance had been covered, before Shiro was slammed with a major migraine; that he knew was Zarkon! The Black lion stopped and squirmed awkwardly as if fighting trying to it off itself. It's pinkish glow returned and Shiro was beginning to feel a rush of energy, coursing through him. Lance's drone picked up on this.

"Uh oh," the Blue Paladin murmured. "Guys!! The Black lion!!" He called, over the com. Red and Green gazed back.

"I got this!" Pidge called, readying her lasers; and Red kept going. One blast at the ship was enough to throw the Galra Emperor off, freeing Shiro from his influence. Shiro took that opportunity at once, thrusting Black as fast as he could to get out of range. All finally reaching the castle they wormholed away, and were, again, several galaxies away. Red waited quietly with its mouth open, for someone to come get its Paladin; who was passed out on the floor. Shiro, of course, was the first to arrive, followed by the rest of the team. Hunk helped Shiro get Keith up, and they all hastily rushed him to the infirmary. Laying him carefully down on the table Coran, Allura and Pidge began assessing him. Shiro had stepped back to give them space, dazed by what he had seen. Memories of his own Galra experience returning to him in flashes. He began to see himself where Keith was. _Was his mind playing tricks on him? Or was he just going mad? Maybe he was dreaming._ But the blood stinging in his left eye reminded him otherwise. His fingers found his brow, looking at his hand the blood on it suddenly seemed burn his eyes. _Was it just him, or was the blood on his hand growing; as though his hand, itself, were bleeding?_ But no matter how red his hand seemed to get, nothing hit the floor. The world around him seemed to blurr away from him. The sight of Keith and the others looking distant and almost moving in slow motion. He stared blankly at them, terror slowly revealing itself in them. Panic suddenly jerked him out of his delirium.

"Keith!" That one word escaped him as he snapped himself forward to help Keith. He was met by Lance and Hunk grabbing his arms, and Allura turning around to hold him back with both hands pressed to his chest. He struggled against them, unable to look away from the wounded Paladin

"Shiro!" Pidge waved at him to his left, finally breaking his gaze. Shiro froze at the sight of her. She placed a hand on his forearm, and he knew what she was trying to tell him. Lance, Hunk and Allura released him. And the Black Paladin turned and paced a couple steps to the left, then the right. He was struggling to keep his cool, and not totally lose it; fighting back the tears that threatened to break him. They all watched him for a moment as Allura stepped back, and Pidge came closer to her.

"You guys keep working on Keith." Pidge said, turning to Allura. "Hunk and I will deal with Shiro."

"Got it." Allura nodded. "But Pidge." She spoke up, stopping the Green Paladin in her tracks. "Be careful." Her concern demonstrated by her face and tone of voice. Pidge smiled back at her.

"That's why I have Hunk with me." She said, continuing to lead Shiro away by his right forearm; with his other hand to his head. The Princess reluctantly turned back to Keith. The bruises and scratches on his body telling the story of all he had been through in the few vargas he'd been gone.

"This arm is pretty messed up." Coran commented, inspecting the flaps of skin and the work that the Galra had been doing with it.

"We must work as hard as we can to fix it... to save Keith's arm." Allura decided her determination, masking any amount of fear and concern she had for him... and Shiro.

Shiro stared at the floor, his eyes hollow and his mind distant. He sat on the steps amongst the pods where Pidge had left him. No thoughts, but Keith, crossing his mind. Pidge laid an ice pack over his shoulder, and then knelt down to wipe the blood away from his brow; only to reveal the gash from which it came from. The blood has trickled down his cheek like a red tear, but the cloth and water fixed that promptly. His elbow rested on his knees; as he made no sound, and made no move. A single tear escaped down his cheek, and Pidge brushed it away. Shiro closed his eyes and, still, didn't move. Pidge glanced up at Hunk, who returned a mirrored one of concern. Both of them knew he was upset about Keith, but neither of them could imagine what he was going through. Only because they knew that the Galra had held him prisoner for a year; and now Keith, whom he cared about very much, had been captured and hurt by them too. All Pidge could do was fight back the lump in her throat, and the pain stabbing her in the heart; as she continued to tend to the Black Paladin. Footsteps made her look up, seeing the Blue Paladin standing there. Hunk had looked up too, but Shiro remained as he was. Pidge then dropped her gaze back to Shiro, and sniffled to recompose herself.

"How's Keith?" She asked, trying hard to hide her despair.

"Ok," Lance kept a soft quiet voice. "Coran and Allura are fixing his arm right now. They're trying to stabilize him so they can put him in the healing pod... Who knows how long that'll take." He paused, hesitant to go on. "How's Shiro?" He managed to say, coming down the steps and stopping at the bottom. Pidge opened her mouth to speak, but the words died before reaching her mouth; unable to escape the lump still in her throat. Thinking of nothing to say, she rose from her place, then strode over to him. Her stride quickened, as she wrapped him in an embrace; unable to hold back the tears any longer. Lance was taken aback by this, but snapped out of it to return the embrace; which seemed to last forever. Hunk solemnly looked away, feeling the heaviness of his heart all too well. Pidge's muffled sobs echoed in the quiet, highly-tense room.

 **Hey everybody!! How's it hangin'? This chapter was actually really fun to write!! I was really getting into it, and the ideas just kept coming with this one. Hope you guys find it as enjoyable to read, as it was for me to write! Thx!!!**


	12. Trapped!

Chapter twelve

 _"Keith." A familiar voice called. Keith's eyes shot open, and he was amazed with what he saw. He was standing in the castle infirmary, but his body was still lying on the table. It was like a dream of an out-of-body experience. He looked down to see his arm was still slit open, and the scratches and bruises were still there. But, yet, he felt no pain, only the distant heat/cool of the fever he, no doubt, had. He stared awestruck at what he saw, watching Coran and Allura working briskly to help him._

 _"Keith." The voice said again. Keith quickly broke his gaze from the scene to come face to face with..._

 _"Dad?" The older man stepped close enough to place a hand on his shoulder._

 _"You've finally come." His father said simply._

 _"Come?" Keith echoed, "for what?"_

 _"To learn the truth." James implied._

 _"What am I doing here?" Keith asked, looking around._

 _"I thought you were hear to see me? And.. learn..about your mother?"_

 _"What?" Keith stared at him. His father stared back. The stood like that for a while, neither one of them moving..._

"Come on, Keith!" Allura murmured under her breath. The sensors they placed on him tracking his vitals, which, unfortunately, were very low. Keith's breaths were shallow, and labored at that. Her fear gripping tighter and tighter on her, like the room, itself, was closing in on her. She finished wrapping his arm up, wondering if it'll hold.

"I think he's ready for the cryopod." Allura said, with a gasping sigh. Coran gave a definitive nod from across the table. Heaving him up, they slowly walked him into the rotunda that housed the cryopods. Shiro, noticing movement in his peripheral vision, looked up quickly. Upon catching a glimpse of Keith, he stood up immediately. Allura and Coran placed him in the pod. Shiro stepped forward as the shield materialized; and placed his hand to it, gazing through the glass-like cover. The team looked on from where they stood; as Shiro lowered his head, remaining how he was otherwise.

Shiro sat on the top step. His head down, and his left knee up, with his corresponding arm braced across it. He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh through his nose, then glanced at Keith in the pod to his left. He then glanced back to the right, as though hearing something. And to his surprise, there in they doorway, was Pidge. She'd brought him food from the kitchen, and he realized what time it was.

"You missed supper." She said, coming to set the tray down next to him, despite knowing that he couldn't hear her. He motioned his thanks, then looked back at Keith. Pidge squatted down beside him, on his right side, and placed an hand on his shoulder; then stood up and left...

 _Shiro struggled against the shackles, they burned marks into his skin. Suddenly the table shifted upright and dropped him, and the pain he felt all over ceased. He gazed around, as the room spun around 180 degrees. A mirror slid in between him and the table, but his reflection wasn't there. Instead it was Keith's, staring back at him in a Galra prisoner uniform. Shiro seemed to be pulled through the mirror's frame, as Keith's arms and legs adjusted to be locked into the shackles instead. His arm was slit open before the Black Paladin's eyes; a sudden sharp pain emanating from his own right forearm. He looked down, to realize his original flesh arm was there. But as the Galra techs worked on Keith's arm, his own seemed the melt away. The pain was immeasurable, Shiro cried out and Keith's echoed with it. He could have sworn that Keith's voice had come from his body. More pain followed, and he cried out again._

 _Opening his eyes again the scene had changed. He looked to see that he held a sword in his hand. The arena full of Galra who cheered and booed at the same time. Suddenly he felt an intense pressure, like electricity surging through him. He felt as though he was being split in half, another body seemed to step forth out of his own. He figured it was just a copy of himself, but then he recognized the mullet from behind and Keith's eyes turned to meet his. He held the same sword in a Galra prosthetic right hand same as his own, the sight made his blood run cold. Sweat poured down his face, his pupils shrinking as small as they possibly could. Keith suddenly threw his sword up, and sliced down at him..._

Lightning couldn't have made his eyes open faster, he was upright in a split-second. His breaths were more like gasps as he peered around the darkness. He looked for Keith; and found him still in the pod, but his expression informed him of his mental state. Shiro could see that he was dreaming... as he had been. He knew that the Galra had now damaged him too, his fists tensed in the anger and regret he felt. He had hoped Keith wouldn't have had to go through the same thing he did. He, himself, had been trying rid himself of those memories. But to no avail had be successfully diminished the torturous reminders of his past endeavors as a prisoner; as much as he wished he had. Shiro's eyebrows scrunched together, furrowing across his face to show his distaste for the whole situation. His own past was haunting him just by seeing it recreated in front of him; and by Keith no less. He didn't blame the boy, though it still angered him. But this fire of anger burned for another, one who was the _true_ cause of their pain. The one who caused all of this, and the one who killed the noble King Alfor and destroyed his Altean home-world. The knife in his chest was not from that of the failure of him and his friends, but of that menace of a warlord who has taken countless lives; and continues to do so. He seems to be impossible to eliminate, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. The Black Paladin knew that they had to stop Zarkon... _no matter what it takes!_ His mind thought so loud he thought he was hearing his own voice again; but soon realized the falseness of this wishful thought. Shiro saw the shield go down out of the corner of his eye, and a gasp from Keith made him turn toward him. Shiro leapt up as Keith nearly fell over, but the Black Paladin reached him in time to stop his fall and helped him to the bed in the other room.

Conveniently enough, the rest of the team returned as Shiro settled Keith down. Shiro took a step back as they caught up to him, Pidge placed a hand on his back as she joined him from his left side. The Red Paladin's chest rose and fell steadily, signifying the healing that had taken place; but he looked exhausted, still. Pidge glanced up and Shiro, his face telling all. She cautiously slid a tablet onto the table in front of him, knowing he had something on his mind. Shiro tapped down his thought, for her to read. And she read made her heart break...

 _"Why isn't he better? He should be doing much better than this, right? How come he's not awake and talking to us?"_

Pidge solemnly typed down the answer...

 _"The pod is smart enough to know how much healing he can take. But he IS doing better. A little rest outside the pod will help him heal more thoroughly. We'll give him a few hours to hydrate him, then put him back in again."_

Upon reading this, Shiro nodded slowly, seeing no other option. Pidge's heart tensed, she felt as though it were being ripped from her chest. She had never seen Shiro so depressed in all her lifetime of knowing him. That horrible feeling got worse in seeing Keith's tired, weak face.

 _"Why am I not waking up?" Keith asked, staring at his motionless body; and the worried people around it. His father stood casually leaning against an invisible, dark wall; his arms folded across his chest, and a tenderly loving look on his face._

 _"Wish I knew, son." He shrugged. "So what do you want to do about it?"_

 _"I-... I don't know." The Red Paladin sighed._

 _"You know you got to do something." James reminded him._

 _"I know!" He said firmly, turning around. "But what?" His voice softened as their eyes locked, both showing the unfortunate lack of the answer._

 _"Are you sure you don't want to stay and catch up? There's so much to tell you." James said._

 _"I don't know, Dad, I-" Keith cut himself short, trying to find the right words._

 _"I know. You care about your friends. I get it." His father shrugged one shoulder._

 _"It's not just that..." Keith started, gazing off into the dark abyss around them. "They're my team. And Voltron... were supposed to be the Defenders of the Universe... They- can't do it without me."_

 _"Why not?" James wondered. Keith stared at him, searching his face._

 _"Because- the..Red Lion chose me." Keith answered. James dropped his gaze and nodded._

 _"Your mother would be proud of you, Keith." Was all he said. Keith held his glance on his father._

 _"Yeah," he finally said, softly. "I know." James smiled caringly up at him. Keith then turned back to the sight before him, his gaze somehow wandering to Shiro. Something felt off about him... but what? He could feel a change, but couldn't quite place it. The feeling was dark and twisted... one he'd never felt before. 'That's got to be his memories of being a prisoner.' Keith thought to himself. Then his eyes widened in the realization of what this meant; and his heart instantly shattered within him. He fell to his knees and lunged down onto all fours, a sob jerking his chest and tears beginning to drip from his face. And as they hit the ground, ripples on the floor seemed to result, like water being disturbed by rain. His own reflection staring back at him, as he threw his head up in a loud, angry scream!_

Shiro felt his heart pound in his chest, and knew that he was still alive. But he felt as though he had died and wasted away, remaining an empty husk. The room still felt distant, and almost dream-like, though it felt more like a living nightmare. Keith shifted to his other side as, the Black paladin's vision blurred completely. The next thing he saw was the ceiling and then darkness. Only brief flashes of the Paladins standing over him came, and then... blackness completely ensued upon him.

 **What is up everybody!! So this chapter, again, was a lot of fun! Though it kinda took me a while to get it figured out, so I apologize! Anyway, as I said, it was a lot of fun to do, and I've already started working on chapter thirteen! Hoping to make it to twenty chapters with this story. ;) Hope you guys are still enjoying this story and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. Thx!!! 3**


	13. Strange Symptoms

Chapter thirteen

"What the heck just happened?!" Lance cried in pure shock and horror.

"Relax Lance, he collapsed." Pidge said, trying to sound calm. "He's probably just overly stressed." She reached over Shiro and pulled his right arm over and draped it across his abdomen. She straightened his neck and legs, then took a pulse on his wrist. She was slowly beginning to notice a slight blurr in her vision as well; but she thought that was just from crying earlier, and took no notice of it. She checked with her gauntlet to see if what she had felt was actually right.

"He's developing a fever?!" Pidge realized, still holding his wrist, while glancing up at the others.

"You don't look so good yourself, Pidge." Allura commented. "Are feeling alright?"

"Yes Princess, I'm fine." The Green Paladin insisted. "We need to figure out what's wrong with Shiro... and fast." She tried to get a grip on his upper body, under his arms, but he was simply too heavy for her. Lance and Hunk, without a word, worked together to get Shiro up.

In another room, next to Keith's, they laid Shiro down. The Green Paladin unzipped his black shirt to expose the white tank top he wore underneath. She, then, began attaching sensors at key points on his chest, which got readings instantly.

"So... What _did_ happen back there?" Hunk spoke up, breaking the deafening silence.

"As I said, he passed out." Pidge repeated, continuing to work.

"I know, but- why?" The Yellow Paladin went on.

"I don't know!!" The Green Paladin whipped around in frustration, only to feel a wave of light-headedness wash over her. She stumbled back a couple paces and steadied herself against the table.

"Pidge! A-" Allura cried, reaching a hand toward her.

"I'm fine!" Pidge cut her off, holding her head in her left hand and gesturing with the other. "I'll be fine." She turned back to Shiro.

"I'm not sure you are," Allura observed, "maybe you should-"

"No!" Pidge pushed away Allura's hand with her left forearm, not looking up. "I'm not gonna leave things like this." Allura stepped back again, and shot a concerned look as Coran and the others, but Pidge continued to work.

"This doesn't make sense!" She breathed after awhile. "He's getting sick... but what's causing it?" Looking up at his face, she noticed something about the bandage on his brow. Quickly peeling it back to expose the wound, her breath caught in her throat in a gasp. The team looked to see what she saw, and gasped as well. Shiro's gash had swollen up and purple bruise-like veins extended off of it, The redness of infection was spread throughout it.

"How did this happen?!" Coran breathed.

"He got this gash when we took out those Galra physicians to rescue Keith." Pidge sighed.

"But why is it so irritated?" Hunk asked, shifting forward to see a little more clearly.

"I...don't know. We just have to..." another dizzy spell hit her, when she jumped down from the stool she stood on.

"Woah, Pidge! Are you alright?!" Lance cried, rushing to stop her fall.

"Yeah. I'm- fine!" The girl transferred her weight off of the Blue Paladin, and onto her own two feet. She still felt a little woozy after the shock of jumping down. Beads of sweat were beginning to appear on her brow, same as it had for Shiro. She, too, was beginning to feel a little distant. She sat down on the stool and leaned against the table. She pulled up a screen on her gauntlet.

"His fever is spiking..." She breathed through her blurred, light-headed delirium. "Something is infecting... the wound.. making him sick."

"I don't think he's the only one." Lance commented, kneeling next to her on one knee. His concerned expression burning into hers. Her pale skin looked paler than before, and there was a distinct hollowness to her eyes.

"I'm fine," Pidge repeated, her voice rasping from the dryness of her throat. "We need to help Shiro and Keith." Her voice weakened further as she spoke.

"Oh...I'm not so sure you're able to right now." Coran observed from a short distance.

"Coran's right, you need to get some rest so we can figure out what's wrong with both of you." Lance agreed, taking Pidge into his arms. Carrying her in a bridal position, her left arm draped over his right shoulder. The sick girl leaned over to rest her head on him, as he carried her into, yet, another room. Once she was settled into bed to rest, he returned to Shiro's room a little while later to find the others still working on him.

"Ok, Pidge is resting." The Blue Paladin reported. "Have we figured out what's wrong with Shiro?"

"Not yet." Allura sighed. "But it seems to have infected Pidge as well, so we must all be very careful."

"One thing's for sure..." Hunk commented watch the screen. "Shiro's in a _lot_ worse shape than Pidge right now."

"His heart rate is so irregular. What does that mean?" Lance asked, watching the inexplicably odd pulsations on the screen next to their leader. The Princess quickly left the room, then returned shortly after.

"Put these on." She handed each of them a bracelet. They looked much like watches, but without the clock part. The circle in the middle had a flat surface that looked like a screen, with shapes like buttons or icons. "These will keep track of our vitals, in case one of us starts to get sick too." Allura continued.

Each of them snapped them on, when an alarm sounded out in another room. They ran out to the main room with the pods, the team glanced around.

"There!" Allura pointed. "It's coming from Keith's room!" The four of them sprinted into the room.

"What, is, happening right now!?!" Hunk cried, noticing the same irregular pulses on the screen.

"Keith seems to be infected as well." Allura observed.

"So Pidge, Shiro, _and_ Keith are sick, and the rest of us are fine." Lance stated. "Could something on the Galra ship have infected them?"

"Perhaps." Allura replied thoughtfully. "But what?"

"Could they have all been exposed to some kinda of experimental gas poison?" Coran suggested.

"Yes." The hoarse voice of the Green Paladin caused everyone to whip around. She had dragged herself all the way there, and was leaning against the door post; her arm dangling listlessly from her body.

"Pidge!" Coran cried in surprise.

"What are you doing up?!" Lance asked, coming to her side.

"I know- what's causing- this." Pidge gasped, gingerly walking forward, supported by Lance. "The med techs-... they wore masks... to protect them... from a sleeper agent gas..."

"But then why are you all so sick if it was just a sleeper agent?" Allura asked.

"Because... the sleeper agent... is more... complex... and has... a toxic... side effect..." Pidge breaths remained labored, but came harder the more she talked.

"You need to stop talking and go back and rest." Hunk decided. Lance nodded and began to turn her back toward her room.

"No!.." the girl refused, stopping him. "Gotta... help... Keith!... And... Shiro!"

"Ok, but at least rest while you're helping." Lance carefully set her down in the floor, and leaned her against the door post and the wall; nestling her into the corner. Coran followed; gently draping a blanket over her.

"We need to... reverse... the infection... before we...*cough* Become septic..." The Green Paladin strained to keep her voice clear enough for them to understand her.

"Ok, but what needs to happen to do that?" Hunk wondered.

"Need... my computer..." Pidge responded, attempting to get up again. Lance knelt down and laid her back again, he patted her shoulder gently and ran off to get it. When she received it from the breathless Blue Paladin, she tried to quickly type down all the information she knew. Her blurred, split vision obscured some of her ability to see straight, and read through what she wrote. But, somehow, the team could decipher what she meant to say.

"Ok, we understand what needs to be done." Allura stayed after reading everything. "Now, _please,_ go back and rest."

"*Sigh* fine." The girl finally gave in. Lance came picked her up like a bride again, and carried her back to bed. Meanwhile, Hunk and Coran were assisting Allura in creating the necessary treatment for their sick friends. As the Princess of Altea worked, she couldn't help but look at Keith and wonder: _how can we survive this with Zarkon concstanty after is?!_

 **Heu guys!! Sooo sorry I haven't posted in a little while. Been busy, kinda juggling four or five fanfics right now and I've gotten stuck on all of them like a million times!!! But here it is; the next chapter. I still don't know when I'm going to end this story. But I hope you enjoy this next chapter. And I'm will get chapter fourteen done as soon as I can. Thx!!!**


	14. Slipping Away

Chapter fourteen

 _Keith stood there staring, Shiro still felt off to him. But why? He had barely even blinked an eye before he watched, in sheer horror, as the Black Paladin suddenly dropped to the floor._

 _"Shiro!!" Keith ran forward only to hit an invisible wall. It fluctuating like water when his palms touched its surface. He could see the other Paladins race to his aid, but could do nothing with them. He huffed and puffed, as though about to crack under the pressure. He took a couple staggering paces backwards._

 _"Why is this happening to me?!" Keith breathed, dangerously close to tears._

 _"Keith," his father said, stepping forward to place a hand firmly on his shoulder. "Believe me when I say I wish I knew. But maybe you are here for a reason. Do you have any idea why you might still be trapped here?" Keith's gaze fell to the floor, he just stared back at the soundless window into the waking world..._

Another sensor went off in another room, the team wasted no time investigating. As they neared the other rooms, they could hear the sound of strained suffocating coughs from the first room they approached. Upon entering they saw a distressed Black Paladin, looking as though something was caught in his neck. His neck was tense and he stirred uncomfortably. He coughs were joined by strained wheezing, but yet he didn't seem to be awake. Or if he was... he was just barely conscious.

"The infection is creating fluid his lungs. We need to get him some oxygen and get that antidote done now." Allura cried, grabbing a mask and holding over his mouth. Lance helped Allura to tend to Shiro, while Hunk and Coran worked briskly to finish the large vile that held the yellow liquidy substance serving as the cure. A drop of a green liquid faded into the golden yellow substance, turning it more golden; and almost glowing.

"It's ready." Coran declared finally. Hunk handed Coran and Allura a syringe full of this stuff and took one for himself.

"I've measured out the right amount for each of them." The Yellow Paladin stated. "Coran, go do Pidge, I'll give mine to Keith, Allura you've got Shiro. Lance, help Allura. Shiro's a lot stronger than he looks."

"Believe me I know." Lance agreed, he'd seen, all too well, some of the things Shiro was capable of doing. Allura strained against the panicked, distressed Paladin, his strength slowly overpowering hers. Up until this moment, she had realized how strong Shiro _actually_ was, and, frankly, it didn't feel so good to be used against her. Finally gaining some leverage, with the help of Lance, she stuck the needle into his left bicep.

Shiro lay there sweating and shivering at the same time. One wave of heat, one wave of cold, both alternating in the mostly agonizing way. He began to get this drowning feeling in his chest and struggled for breath; the air unwillingly to entered and exit his body. He'd try to inhale and would cough, try to exhale; same result. The cycle was quickly shattered by a violent burning sensation originating from one of his extremities, the burning sensation spread like wild fire. His skin felt as though it were drowned in acid burning away his skin layer by layer. He still felt cold, but his body was damp from sweating. His throat vibrated in a cry he, still, could not hear. The pressure on his chest and arms weight harder; the burning consuming his entire body, and then... the cool came. And his body relaxed, and his mind faded away into a slumber much like hibernation. A deep sleep he thought he'd never get, given his recent state of mind. But, then, his mind took over, and the roller coaster continued on again...

"Phew!!.. ok." Allura huffed, gently shifting her weight off of Shiro again. Her body ached from the struggle, her heart still pounded from the adrenaline rush. Lance stood across from her on Shiro's other side, also breathless. His left forearm was laid on the table; anchored on his elbow, with his right arm up at a 90 degree angle; palm to the table. Allura kept her elbows draped over Shiro's chest, as footsteps sounded behind her.

"Their both slowly starting to improve." Hunk reported, when Lance and Allura looked up at them; coming toward them. "How's Shiro?"

"His levels have risen a bit, but not much improvement otherwise." Allura sighed, gazing down at the motionless Shiro.

"Hey, come on, that doesn't mean anything." Lance reassured her. "Let's give it some time. He'll get better. It may just take a while, I mean, he _was_ the sickest of them all." Allura pondered his words thoughtfully.

"You might be right, Lance." The Princess decided after a while. So they all stood there circled around the Black Paladin, watching, and waiting, for something to happen.

 _Shiro took a breath, then his eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up. His breaths came quickly, and slowed as his panic melted into confusion. He peered around the darkness, he heard no sound, saw no light, felt no pain. But he was here, wherever **here** was. He stood up and gazed directly out in front of him. A light in the distance materialized into a body, recognizing it he quickly ran to it until he was face to face with the Red Paladin._

 _"Keith, what's going on?" Shiro signed to him. "Where are we?" Keith stood there and Shiro waited for his answer. Slowly, as if, almost, in slow motion, Keith formed an answer._

 _"We are home." Shiro's pupils shrunk at this. Horror sinking it's fangs into him and poisoning him with terror and disbelief. He took a step back and Keith remained as he was._

 _"Don't be afraid, Shiro." Keith went on, keeping a hollow, blank stare. His dark blue eyes fixed on him and almost robot-like. Shiro stepped back another pace._

 _"Keith, what's wrong with you?" Shiro signed, his heart beginning to race. "We can't be home, this isn't Earth."_

 _"I wasn't referring to **that** home." Keith returned, motioning in a one-note sort of way. Shiro's blood ran cold, 'was this it?' He thought. 'Was this the end for him? Was he truly dying? But what about Keith?' The one that stood before him couldn't be him, Shiro knew him too well. Suddenly a small flashing light on the floor seemed to be coming up to him. But before it reached him, it turned and rose a few feet away from him. The light looked much like a comet with its long sizzling tail, but it seemed to avoid him; like he was in one of the those cheap plastic snow globes with the friendly little snow cabin scenes with the fake snow. The light zipped around him til finally flew up and shattered this invisible bubble like glass, the head of the light met Shiro's forehead and burst into a glowing yellow substance. It was almost like liquid sunlight, and he was drenched in it. The light covered him completely, practically drowning him as the light consumed him..._

Shiro's vision blurred back into the real world, the faces of the team being the first thing he saw. Pidge had just barely peeked around the door post beyond them; but no one had noticed yet. The relief he felt was immeasurable, he no longer felt any pain, except for the sting the cut on his forehead. He no longer felt distant or light-headed, and his vision wasn't split anymore. His hand found his forehead as he sat up slowly, his head thumping a little from the sudden activity. Allura's hand on his forearm getting his attention, and her gaze indicating that he shouldn't try to get up just yet. Sliding his legs to the side of the bed to let them dangle off the table, he braced his hands on the edge of the table and hung his head down. He then noticed the wires that had been inserted into his skin, and the small bandaid over the injection point; and realized what had happened. The team just stood there watching, waiting to see what Shiro would do next.

"He's looking better." Pidge's small voice broke their gaze.

"So do you." Allura commented, seeing the brightness of the Green Paladin's eyes, and the color slowly returning to her face. "But you should rest a little longer to be sure you're _truly_ better."

"I know." Pidge admitted dropping her gaze. "I just had to be sure Shiro was alright... and Keith."

"Keith!" Shiro realized, thrusting his head up again, almost as if he'd heard them. Shiro slid down off the table, but his knees buckled under him and he nearly fell. Luckily Hunk and Lance were there to stop his fall, and they decided they'd help him to Keith's room to see him. As they all entered, Keith sighed weakly and shifted his head away from them. He'd been resting like this for hours, until they arrived. He still showed no signs of being awake. Shiro somehow managed to leave the support of the Blue and Yellow Paladins, to approach the quiet, wounded Red Paladin.

 _"Keith, I think it's time you return to them." His father told him. His hand firmly gripping his son's shoulder._

 _"But dad," Keith protested quickly. "How **do** I get back to them?" James wrapped his arm around Keith shoulders and turned him back toward the display of his friends standing by his motionless body._

 _"Feel their presence. Fight your way back to them. They need you, Keith." His father told him._

 _"But don't **you** need me?" Keith wondered looking over at his dad._

 _"I **do** want you here son, I do." James answered returning his glance. "But it's as you said. The Universe needs you,... your team needs you." Keith stared at him, his father just smirking at him. "Go, be great." Strangely enough, as James said this Keith could have sworn he'd heard Shiro's voice say it with him. The two men locked hands in a firm grip between them, and then his father drifted away from him; dissolving into the darkness of the void. Turning back to the the picture now in front of him, he focused on getting closer to them. As he did so the scene around him fluctuated into something, suddenly the scene totally changed; the picture of his friends had totally vanished. All he saw now was the one place he dreaded, the one place he thought he'd escaped. The place where all his nightmares were created, that horrible... "Galra ship?!" Keith turned around toward the sound of blaster being pointed at him, Galra sentries holding them. Haggar appeared at his right side and grabbed him by his shoulder. Keith instinctively pulled out his knife and swung, Haggar's cries echoed and she disappeared. Just then, he noticed the Paladins beyond where Haggar had been, Shiro on the ground with Allura and Pidge kneeling over him. Then a pinch in his left arm made him look down, then blackness consumed him once again..._

"Shiro, are you alright?!" Allura cried, one hand on his left shoulder and one on his forearm. The man pulled himself up, the scarlet stripe running from his lower right side and extending up his left shoulder stung like the burning sun. The white of his tank top stained red by the long wound that remained. Hunk and Lance held the unconscious Keith in their grasp. His arms draped over their shoulders and his head hung low.

"Coran, help get Keith back into the pod, the infection's gone and he's had a rest. The pod will help him to heal more quickly now." The princess instructed. Coran nodded and obediently left, followed by Hunk and Lance with the decapitated Paladin.

"It's not his fault you know." Pidge's voice caused Allura to look from Shiro to the Green Paladin. "He was probably dreaming when he woke up, and was hallucinating. He didn't really _mean_ to attack Shiro." Allura's eyes hit the floor once again.

"I know..." She trailed off. "But it doesn't make it any easier to watch." The Green Paladin followed suit looking down at Shiro again, silent as he was. He didn't even attempt to move, or do anything for that matter. He just waited, to see what they wanted to do with him next.

 **Finally, sorry guys I've been really struggling with what to do next. I have ideas on _what_ to do, but I'm still figuring out how to get there. I still don't know how I'm gonna end it, but I hope you're still enjoying it! And I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can! Thx!!!**


	15. Lingering Doubts

Chapter fifteen

 _Keith's eyes popped open and all that was there was the infinite black void, but there was no window into the outside world; like before. Instead all that was there was blackness, star-like lights, and him. He was alone. He looked for his dad; but he wasn't there like before. Keith ran through the darkness, it_ _seemed to extend for miles. It was almost as though he was running in place._

 _Looking down he couldn't tell if the ground was moving under him, as he ran. Feeling his attempts were futile, he slowed to a stop and stood there staring at the ground. Suddenly a light below him, made him open his eyes. His eyes instantly glued to his feet, they were glowing and this glow was slowly advancing up his body. As the light continued up his body, he noticed that the light was being replaced with his Paladin armor. When the light had fully dissipated and his armor was there he look at his hands, flexing his hand into a fist; a smile managed to curve his lips up. His smile, however, was short lived, as a wave of excruciating, electrical pain practically burned his armor off his body. The armor burned away, only to be replaced with the charcoal black garments of a prison uniform. He looked at himself in disgust._

 _'Will I ever escape this?!' He thought. His hands suddenly felt wet and looked at them. Blood,... and it was dripping off them. 'What have I done? What have done to cause this horrible nightmare?' He genuinely hadn't a clue why was being tormented for no apparent reason. It was as if he'd done something, but couldn't remember what it was. He shook away the blood and ran, attempting to escape this nightmare._

 _"I want to leave!" He called out to no one, hoping desperately that someone was there; keeping him here against his will. "I want to get back to my team!!!" He screamed, his voice cracked dryly, as it echoed away from his body. "Wait!" He gasped to himself. He closed his eyes and remained still, focusing all he had onto one thing..._

Shiro flinched and shifted slightly away from the sting, his breaths tense from the sharp pain burning on his skin. Pidge dabbed the cloth in her hand gently, the mark Keith's knife left was incredibly large. she was amazed that it just grazed him. But how he managed to sustain an injury extending all the way from his lower right side to the top his left shoulder; without completely shattering his ribs or puncturing a lung was beyond what, even her massive brain, could handle. She was almost half way up his long gaping wound was Allura brought in another bowl of water to help clean it.

"This _can't_ be happening!!" Allura sneered, blurting out these words and slamming her fists down on the table with the heel of her palms.

"Allura come on." Hunk began, sympathetically. "Keith and Shiro have been through lot today. And they've known each other for a long time. Neither of them would want to hurt the other, and you know that. They're probably just re-experiencing the terrible things the Galra have done to them, and we keep setting them off every time we try to do something about it. We just need to take another approach when dealing with them." He gestured with his hands as he spoke, as he often does. Shiro saw this, but ignored it; knowing that he wasn't talking to him.

"But that's the problem." Allura emphasized. "Every time we do something, someone gets hurt." Allura's heart broke, as though a knife had been stabbing into it. "We keep trying to help, but instead we keep making things worse."

"We're doing our best Princess." Coran told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "But Hunk's right, we need to take a different approach in order to help them. So we don't let it happen again." Allura looked down at Shiro, who was gazing blankly off at eye level, then looked down again.

"Ok." She breathed finally. Coran gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, then went back to check on Keith again.

 _Keith kept his eyes closed, he squeezed them a little tighter. His soul reaching out to the One that could possibly help him escaped this endless abyss of a prison. The ground under him began to glow a brilliant red, the light reached up as though trying to escape the shadowy depths; cracking through the ground. As the light bursts brighter, Keith open his arms out; as if accepting a hug. The light beginning to scare away the darkness, the shadows fleeing from the burning red light..._

Keith's body suddenly took on a red residual glow, beads of this glowing energy rising off him. Coran jumped at the sight of it. Allura, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge arriving to see what he was currently witnessing. The ground vibrated under them as they heard a distinctly familiar, yet, distant roar, and they thought they were going mad. Keith's eyes open, glowing a strange yellow; then fading to reveal his deep blue eyes again. With one gasping breath Keith gazed around, trying to remember what had happened. The shield went down, and he stumbled forward into the arms of the Blue Paladin and Princess Allura.

"Ugh, what happened?" Keith's voice was groggy, and his body still ached a little; though he felt way better than he had since being on the Galra ship.

"Long story, man." Hunk answered tenderly, ginning happily. Keith glanced around at them.

"Where's Shiro?" Keith's voice cracked from the dryness of his throat.

"He's fine." Allura told him. "Right now let's get you something to eat... and drink." Lance and Allura headed off, leading Keith to the banquet hall so he could sit down and take a load off; especially given all he'd been through. Coran followed, Hunk headed to the kitchen to get something for Keith to eat and drink, and Pidge disappeared again to take care of Shiro.

Shiro had surprisingly stayed put where he was when Pidge arrived. She as she drew near, she didn't say anything about Keith. She knew if she gave him any indication that Keith was awake, he'd be out there in no time. She wanted to be sure that Shiro's wound was properly taken care of, and covered before he saw Keith. Finishing the cleaning part, she went on to smothering an ointment on the gauze and pressing it gently over the wound. Shiro drew in a pained breath upon feeling the sting, and clenched his eyes closed at it. Carefully holding the long strip of gauze in place with her left hand, she slid her other hand behind Shiro's arm and back encouraging him to sit up. She tapped him on the shoulder, letting him know to hold still, and she began to wrap the gauze with bandages to keep it there. They ran around his abdomen and up his left shoulder. When she had finished, she helped him get his shirts back on; and led him through the Castle to see Keith.

" _All_ that happened?" Keith asked, after Hunk, Lance, Allura, and Coran had very briefly recounted the events since his rescue.

"It's definitely a lot to process." Allura told him. The other information, to which they withheld from him, eating away at her from the back of her mind.

"But Pidge looked fine? How-"

"Well we'd finally figured out the problem and fixed it." Hunk interrupted the Red Paladin quickly. "The antidote didn't take as long to cure her, since she had been experiencing the symptoms quite as much as you and Shiro."

"So how is Shiro now?" Keith wondered. The awkward atmosphere in the air laid thick on them all.

"The infection seems to have gone down," Allura finally piped up. "But we have him resting a little while longer... just to be sure." Keith's gaze dropped to the food on his plate.

"Oh.. ok." His disappointment fairly evident in his tone. The sound of a throat being cleared behind him, caused him to look up and around the back of the chair. Only to see Pidge and Shiro standing there, Shiro's gaze blankly downcast. Keith stood up immediately at the sight of them, but remained where he stood. Pidge turned to Shiro tapped his right arm, then pointed at Keith when he looked at her. When Shiro followed her gazed, his face lit up at the sight of Keith standing there. Wasting no time, Shiro closed the gap between them; embracing Keith as soon as he reached him. The Black Paladin ignored the pain that erupted from his chest, as nothing else mattered to him; other than his immense relief to see Keith alive and looking well again. Keith returned the hug gently and they pulled apart.

 _"It's so good to know you're alright, Keith."_ Shiro signed, the relief he felt flooding out of him. Keith smiled tenderly back.

 _"Same for you."_ Keith responded, his lips keeping that smile, as he motioned back. As Keith looked closer at Shiro, he couldn't help but notice something peeking out from under Shiro's collar on the left side. He stepped closer and touch near the area and Shiro flinched and back up a pace.

 _"Shiro, what's wrong?"_ Keith gestured, speaking as he signed, suspicion growing. Shiro stepped up to him again.

 _"Nothing Keith, everything's fine."_ But Shiro's eyes telling a different story, as a memory seemed to reflect itself off them...

 _Keith lay there still not stirring from his, seemingly, endless slumber. His head turned away from them, as the pulsations his monitors slowly changed. Shiro placed a hand on the younger man's right shoulder, Keith's eyes shot open and he quickly lunged blindly swinging his knife in his direction. Shiro backed away, but not far enough; as the blade nailed him across the chest. Shiro cried out in pain and fell backwards to the ground. Lance and Hunk lunged at Keith and held their arms between him and Shiro lying on the ground. Allura and Pidge knelt down to help him. Coran pulled out another needle and stuck it into his left upper arm. And as Keith faded from consciousness, Lance and Hunk caught hold of him once again..._

Keith's eyes widened, as the memory ended, Shiro's eyes practically telling him all he wanted to know. The young man's heart began to pound and race in his chest, he thought it might leap out of his body. A stabbing twisting feeling in his gut made him sick, as his stomach dropped.

 _"Keith! It's ok."_ Shiro signed to him quickly, seeing that he was about to panic.

 _"No, how can you say that?!?!?!"_ Keith screamed, as he gestured this to the Black Paladin. _"Everything is not fine!! I hurt you!!"_

 _"You didn't mean it!"_ Shiro responded keeping himself as calm as he possibly could. _"You were probably having a nightmare, and didn't realize what you were doing. It's happened to me lots of times."_ Shiro attempted to place a hand on his shoulder, but Keith back away and pushed his hand away.

 _"No. I... I can't do this! I can't-... just say it's ok, cause it's not!"_ Keith retreated out of the room as fast as he could, nudging past Shiro's right shoulder. Shiro stared after him and silently kicked himself for Keith's reaction.

 **This was SUCH a fun chapter to write!!! I'm still not sure how I'll end this story, but for the time being in having fun with it! ;D Anyway hope you're still enjoying this story. Oh! And btw, there are no ships here, other than friend ships. So...sorry Sheith fans. / But, again, hope you're still annoying it. Thx!!! ;) :)**


	16. Something In Common

Chapter sixteen

Keith's sobs echoed in his fairly empty room. The tears rolled down his nose, and dropped to the ground; as he looked down at the picture of him and Shiro in his left hand and his knife in the other. Traces of Shiro's blood still remained on it, and that only made things worse for him and he cried harder. Keith wasn't known to show much emotion other than anger and annoyance, but today he couldn't stop himself. The pain that tore at his heartstrings was too much to bare. The pictures in his mind of what he'd seen. The thought of him attacking the one person whom he considered his brother, was practically killing him from the inside out. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, he forced himself to slow his sobs. Wiping away as many tears as he possibly could. The door opened and Keith dared himself to look up. But the sight of Shiro standing there, stung as though he'd been stabbed with his own knife. Keith looked away unwilling to meet his gaze.

"Keith." Shiro's voice startled him; as he hadn't heard it since the explosion that knocked out the Black Paladin's hearing. Keith forced himself to look up again, finally making eye contact with Shiro dark grey eyes. Shiro knelt down on one knee beside him.

 _"Keith, **please** , listen to me."_ Keith could hear the emphasis on the word _'please'_ , despite not hearing a thing. _"I know how you're feeling right now. I've done things that couldn't believe I did too."_ Keith's stare was uncertain as Shiro continued. _"When those aliens we saved from the Galra prison ship told me that I hurt my friend, Matt, in the Galra fighting arena; I didn't want to believe that I would do such a thing."_

 _"But that was different."_ Keith signed back. _"You later remembered that you did it on purpose, to save him."_

 _"True,"_ Shiro returned. _"But I still felt the self doubt. Wondered why I would do that. Wished it weren't true. I wanted to believe that they were lying... but then I remembered and understood, again, why I did it. I always fear of hurt someone I care about, but I've gotten past that. And I've accepted the fact that accidents happen, and sometimes things are out of my control. But you and the rest of the team understand that I would never hurt any of you intentionally."_

 _"But how can I do this?"_ Keith questioned, his tear-filled eyes and shaky breaths beginning to overwhelm him again.

 _"By forgiving yourself. You're mind was not your own. And that'll happen sometimes. That's how a traumatic experience works. You'll always be reminded of it. But how you deal with it... is up to you."_ Keith's gaze softened, the sadness he felt slowly subsiding; but now fully dissipating.

 _"But how can you forgive this?"_ Keith asked dropping his gaze. Shiro took his chin and pulled back up to meet his tender gaze.

 _"It's a lot easier than you think."_ Shiro signed. _"I've been where you are... believe me."_ Shiro laid his right hand on the inside of Keith's left forearm, and pulled it into an embrace; both being careful of Shiro's injury. Keith took out a small cloth from his saddle bag, and began to clean his knife's blade. Placing it back in its sheath and the picture down on his bed, he looked back up at Shiro.

 _"So..."_ he began slowly. _"How big is it?"_ Shiro's eyebrows furrowed.

 _"Do you really want to know?"_ He asked, half wondering if he should tell him. Keith hesitated for a moment.

 _"Yes."_ The young man decided. Regretfully, Shiro pointed to his left side and slowly traced his finger all the way up to his shoulder. And Keith immediately regretted wanting to know, as did Shiro for showing him. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Explain to me, how you allowed the prisoner to escape." Zarkon's lack of shouting intimidated and concerned the Galra soldiers more than, his raised voice would have.

"It wasn't easy to stop them, but somehow they managed to make it past our security systems." One Galra soldier reasoned.

"The little one was protected by the escaped prisoner, and the other prisoner was rescued by both of them. We haven't a clue how they got in undetected for so long." Another one said.

"Then find out how and reinforce our defenses to prevent that from ever happening again!" Zarkon returned severely, glaring back at them. The soldiers quickly backed away and left, before Zarkon got any angrier. And the alien warlord turned back to stare, seemingly, blankly out at the infinite void of darkness and stars on the main screen.

"I will have that lion if it's the last thing I do." He mumbled menacingly to himself.

The team waited anxiously in the lounge. Lance lay sprawled across the bench with his legs up on, what would be, the back of the seat. Pidge remained with her elbows to her knees, one knee bouncing up and down in a nervous twitch. Everyone was sitting within the circle of the bench. Hunk sat with his right leg laid across his other leg with his knee pointing out. Allura just stared at the ground in despair, and Coran sat right beside her with his around behind her; in case he had to reassure her again. Finally their anxiety was shattered by the door of the lounge sliding open, and the Red and Black Paladins emerging from it. Everyone rose as soon as they saw them. Lance looked up, then, losing his balance, fell off the chair and crashed in a heap to the ground. He rubbed his head, as he stood up as well; and Allura paced toward the two men.

"Keith, are you alright? We've been wondering when you two would return." The Princess stated, giving him a concerned blank stare.

"Yeah, I'm good." Keith responded, signing his response for Shiro to read.

"Well you look like you're doing better." Pidge remarked by the young man's demeanor. "How you feeling?"

"Better. Thanks." Keith smiled kinda half-heartedly. Then looked at Shiro, who couldn't hide a smile.

"So-" Keith began breaking his gaze to the floor. "How'd you find me?" He peeked up to searched the expressions on team's for answers. Shiro took Keith's shoulder in his hand and turned it toward him, when Keith looked at him he signed:

 _"Allura has seen you disappeared behind the Galra ship and after that you were gone. So we figured wherever you went, it had to be on the Galra headquarters."_

"So what did you do without me?" Keith asked, after a short silence.

"What do you mean?" Allura wondered curiously. Keith pointed a thumb over towards Shiro, then glanced over at him. The Black Paladin simply standing there blankly watching the conversation, to which he, still, could not hear.

"Ehh, we found ways." Pidge smiled, coolly shining her nails on her shirt. She smiled humorously, as a nonexistent light glinted off it; stealing this expression from Lance.

 _"We managed."_ Shiro signed, somehow understanding the conversation. Shiro's gaze fell to the floor and he closed his eyes firmly, his eyebrows furrowing across his face. Keith turned squarely toward him, worry gripping him once again.

"Shiro, what's wrong?" He said, some how forgetting in that moment that the Black Paladin couldn't hear him. When Shiro didn't respond, he touched Shiro's left shoulder gently, remembering his injury, and Shiro looked up at him.

 _"Shiro what's wrong?"_ Keith asked again, signing so he could understand him.

 _"Ahh it's nothing, just a minor headache."_ Shiro responded, shrugging off the suspicion of his friend.

 _"How long has this been going on?"_ Keith said aloud, while also gesturing it to Shiro. Shiro stared at him. _"How long?!"_ Keith repeated, a little more frantically. Shiro finally told him and Keith's jaw dropped. _"That's bad you know that right?!"_ Keith told him angrily. Shiro looked away, returned his gaze to Keith, and motioned something else. The rest of the team wishing, by now, that they could understand them; as the tension in the air rose.

 _"Shiro when something like this happens, it means something's wrong!"_ Keith couldn't contain his frustration by this point.

 _"We've been so caught up in get you back and taking care of you that it didn't matter."_ Shiro returned, somehow continuing to remain calm.

 _"Except it **does** matter!!"_ Keith shouted back, he'd been signing violently this entire time and the others stood back; but prepared to intervene if needed. _"Shiro you're just as important to this team as any of us!! You might even be one the **most** important of us all! You're our leader." _Keith's voice lowered as he calmed himself again. _"We can't form Voltron without you."_

"Keith, what's going on?" Allura finally decided to step in. At that moment Shiro grimaced and grabbed his head sinking to the floor.

"Shiro!!" The team cried, leaping forward. Their voices seemed blurred and distant, as the Black Paladin felt a certain Galra leader forcing his way into his thoughts. When Keith and Lance helped him stand up, he placed his hand on Keith's shoulder and gave it a gentle shove saying one word.

"Lions." Then staggered off, with the team glancing around at each other quizzically; when the ground was suddenly jerked under their feet as explosions rang out, muffled by the walls of the Castle. Now understanding what Shiro had said, they ran for the bridge to get to there lions and launched. As Keith took his place, he couldn't help but still feel that Shiro was off. Something about him was different, but he couldn't seem to figure out what it was. His mind had wondered elsewhere, but was soon brought back to reality by the blasts from the Galra ship that were, now, pursuing him. But even that couldn't distract him from the lingering thought that ripped ravenously at the back of his mind.

 **Well another chapter done. I do believe this story is soon to be finished, but I have some work to do before that happens. I haven't posted this before now becasue of the anticipation of season 8. Also, with that, I have already started a new story taking place after the events of season eight and acts as a better, more satisfying ending to some degree. That's not to say that it was bad, but I felt like there were things I would have done differently and if you've seen it you know what I mean. I won't go in to all that becasue that's what my new story is meant to do. I will probably not start posting it right away, but stay tuned for when I do!**

 **As for this story, though, I'm gonna try to finish it with at least twenty chapters, and, if you haven't read my other work, this is the longest story I've ever done. The most I've done up until now has been eleven chapters, I think. So a big difference! Also this story has gained the most support of all my stories so far, so thank you soooooo much for that!! Anyway hope you like what comes next and I'll be back with more as soon as I can! Thx!!! ;D 3**


	17. Closing In

Chapter seventeen

Shiro's thoughts were everywhere, they were like herding cats; never stayed in one place together for long. As he reached his lion, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. _How is he still connected to the Black Lion?_ He asked himself. _There's gotta be away to be stronger than him._ He thought further, the pressure ensued again, and he struggled to fight it. He knew his bond wasn't as strong as Zarkon's, but he knew, for all his team, he had to be stronger than him. _He had to!!_ The castle shook as they received enemy fire, the partical barrier finally going up to shield them from the attack. The five lions launched and they were in battle once again. As Shiro weaved through the raging battle, he continued to feel that pressure ensuing further; and fought as hard as he couldn't to block it out, while also keeping his distance from the Galra's main ship.

"Close in on the Black lion." Zarkon ordered. "Corner it! And keep the other lions away. Occupy them,... while I take back what is rightfully mine."

Shiro dodged through the wreckage of the cruisers he'd just destroyed, feeling very proud of himself; as they were finally starting to neutralize the Galra once again. That pride was shattered by an electrical jerk that stopped the Black lion in its tracks. Shiro struggled to move his lion, but it wouldn't respond. More energy swelled up, and more and more and more... Shiro tried to look for its origin.

The fleets had totally surrounded the Black Lion, and purple beams of light from about a half a dozen or less cruisers were focussed on and encasing Black in it. The lasers zipped around as the lions evaded them; the Galra continued to close in on the Black lion. It was trapped by their glowing purple snare, which had fully decapitated it.

"The Galra have the Black lion! Shiro's in trouble!!!" Keith called, thrusting his lion to go faster. "We need to get in there!"

"He's too heavily guarded and we don't have a clear enough shot to blast the ship, because we might hit Shiro instead!" Pidge explained, taking a blast from one of the ships.

"Then what do we do?!" Lance cried, tossing a Galra fighter into another one.

Shiro gripped the handles, desperately trying to regain control of his lion. The tractor beams converging on him prevented any movement; but still he fought against it. Shiro strained with all his being to escape, but wasn't making any headway. _I need a new plan!!_ He thought to himself. Electric energy shot through his body and he cried out, but, again, could not hear himself. His eyes beginning to glow white as the energy became stronger yet. His Galra hand beginning to glowing, almost as though the something was sucking the energy from it. Shiro struggled to hold on; the purple light turning the screens to a red Galra control panel, Zarkon's influence in his head. Then every thing burst into a white light and descended into darkness right after...

 _Shiro took a gasping breath as he opened his eyes. The darkness of the room was lit by his own memory bubbles; which floated about around him. Looking at some of them he noticed his uncle was in some of them. The good times they'd had... as well as the bad ones. As he looked at each memory when they floated by, and recalled them times as they came. The hide and seek games they played when he was a child. The wise words his uncle shared with him, and the argument he'd had with Shiro's mother... All things he would never forget._

 _"Shiro." A voice broke him out of his thoughts. Shiro looked around, but didn't see anyone. He was more confused then anything, as he didn't think he recognized it. But then one lingering memory reminded him, and his eyes widened. A memory bubble depicting him and his uncle playing together shifted before him. It lit up as something emerged from it. A leg stepped out and a body soon followed, and when the light died down; Shiro was shocked at who it was._

 _"Uncle?!" Shiro breathed shakily, his voice echoing slightly._

"We can't give up!! There's gotta be something we can do!!" Keith cried frantically, as the purple light of the tractor beams became brighter; almost beyond what their eyes couldn't handle.

"We can't reach them!" Pidge cried. "We need to figure out how to interfere with their tractor beams' power!"

"No." Allura breathed, seeing the light encasing the Black Lion more, from the castle's visual scanners. "Coran, we have to do something!!" She called, turning to her advisor.

"Yes, but what can we do?!" Coran agreed hopelessly. He thought about this for a moment. "Wait a tick! I think I've got it!!" He said finally.

"Fire up the Komarr." Zarkon commanded the witch standing at his side.

"Yes, sire." Haggar responded, bowing her head and leaving.

"Reposition the ship." Zarkon ordered the commander in front of him.

"Yes sir!" The soldier responded, turning back to his control panel.

The giant Galra command ship hovered over the trapped Black Lion, the arc's at the base of the warship pointing directly at it.

"Something's happening!" Keith reported, upon seeing this.

"But how do we stop it!!" Lance screamed in a panic. The central command ship emitted its tractor beam converging with the others, as a force field type energy materialized around the beams encasing the Black lion. The lion, at this point, glowing its residual pinkish glow.

"Shiro?!" Keith breathed in horror of what he was seeing.

"The day is almost ours, and the Black lion will be mine once more." Zarkon stated. "Then we will get rid of the Paladins; and we will have Voltron." The dynamics of his voice emphasized his feelings about each thing he said. "Summon the druids." He ordered, a soldier saluting him with a firm _'Vrepidsa'_ , then left to carry out the order.

The lions jetted about, trying to push past the blockade of Galra fleets surrounding the Black lion; the energy around it growing still. Keith's emotions swelling more and more, as the energy did. His pupils shrinking, and his hands shaking. Beads of sweat, now, pouring down his face; and were those tears blurring his vision? He gripped the handles tighter, with a loud angry scream he thrust the handles forward and the Red Lion's blaster materialized on its back. Keith began firing, again and again, controlled by his rage; unable to contain himself anymore! His eyes flared and his heart burned with the fire of his immense rage, channeling down through his hands and out of his lion's cannon. Keith had all guns blazing... literally. His sweat and tears scattering off his face as his madness continued. The team watched in amazement and tried to follow his lead. Keith felt like his anger would never end, like the flames of his inner being would never be extinguished. Like there was nothing in the universe that would tame the fiery flames of this one Paladin. Keith proceeded in his attack not letting up one bit, even despite his body screaming at him to slow down; as it began to tire. Keith anger must have been stronger than his body was because he still would not stop. His blaster and lasers blazing brighter and brighter, as every part of his being was directed at the Galra barricade that blocked his way. Keith launched himself faster than he ever thought he could go and, drawing his jaw blade, blasted through a Galra cruiser blowing it to pieces. Keith's anger was becoming contagious, because the more the Paladins watched him; the angrier they became. Each one of them finally gaining enough anger to plunge into the Galra ships themselves; leaving nothing behind, but wreckage.

"Great work, Paladins! We're making progress!!" Allura cried happily, Hope beginning to wash over her, once again. "Coran is it ready?" The Princess asked, turning to the screen with her advisor's face on it.

"Nearly there, Princess." Coran responded.

"Keep working!" Allura told him. "And hope it's not too late." She murmured to herself.

Keith formed his jaw blade again, lunging toward another cruiser. He sneered as he jerked his lion into a barrel role that kept going, faster and faster; as he bore a hole, almost effortlessly, through another cruiser and it was destroyed in the blast that followed. Hunk pounded his way through each cruiser he came against. Pidge and Lance fired their lasers and used their jaw blades; same as Keith. Each one screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, as they continued their assault. A livid fire, now, burning within them all. Their lions roared, as they zipped around through space; leaving behind a blazing trail of space dust, as fast as they were moving. And for a moment... they all could've sworn they could hear each other's hearts pounding alongside their own.

 **What is up everybody! This chapter was kinda hard because of the cliffy in the middle, but I did it! And that cliffy will be resumed soon!! Hope you guys enjoyed, and stay hyped for the next chapter! Thx!!! :) ;D**


	18. At The Edge

Chapter eighteen

 _"Shiro, it's great to see you again kiddo." Micheal smiled, clasping Shiro's hand in his, as they pulled it into a hug._

 _"I can't believe that you're here!" Shiro breathed. "And how can you talk?"_

 _"My body was merely a prison of silence, but I always had a voice... even if you never heard it." Micheal shrugged, releasing his nephew._

 _"I heard it once." Shiro responded. "But then you left me." Micheal's face flashed with pain and loss as he dropped his gaze to the floor._

 _"I know." His uncle murmured. "And I'm sorry about that. I know how torn up you'd be if I died. Wish I'd have had a choice." Shiro's eyebrows furrowed together, seeing the genuine apologetic expression across the older man's face._

 _"But what are you doing here, son?" Micheal soon looked up again, a grin crossing his face. "You don't look to be that old to be dead yet?"_

 _"I..I'm not.. dead." Shiro responded, half fearing to utter this word, but didn't fully understand why. Perhaps he was afraid of being wrong._

 _"Then how are you here?" Micheal questioned innocently. "You can't tell me you're just here for the fun of it."_

 _"I didn't come here..uh- I-... something.. brought me here." Shiro stuttered trying to make sense of it._

 _"The only thing I can think of, is that you're getting too close to the edge." Micheal guessed, his fingers finding his chin thoughtfully. "And if you don't fight now... it's over." Shiro's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but then it hit him and his eyes widened._

 _"You mean...-"_

 _"You'll be stuck here." His uncle cut him off. "For good."_

 _"No!" Shiro gasped._

 _"You've got it fight your way back. You have too much life to live, before you should join me here." Micheal placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder. "Fight. There's someone who needs you..." Suddenly Shiro heard Keith's voice yelling and grunting, as a small memory-like bubble showed the Red Lion blazing through the sky in his blinding, vengeful rampage._

 _"Keith." Shiro breathed, in seeing this._

 _"He needs you, Shiro." Micheal told him stand a foot or two behind him. "Go to him... save your friends..." Shiro hadn't noticed Micheal slowly fade away behind him, but when he looked back to where he once was; he discovered that his uncle no longer stood there. Turning toward the picture again it burst into light and then darkness followed._

Light blue energy began to slowly flow from the Black lion and into the beams of purple light; all flowing into the main ship.

"It's sucking the energy out of the Black Lion!!" Keith called from his lion, plunging into another ship and bursting out the other side.

"Don't worry guys! We've got a plan!!" Coran shouted over the com.

"We're in position Coran." Allura told him, hunching over the teludav; determination plastered onto her face. "FIRE!!" Coran bashed the button; acting on the command. The castle emitted sound waves that enveloped the sphere-shaped cluster of Galra fleets. A single beam of icy blue energy blasting directly through the blockade of ships, and sliced down the forcefield shattering it.

"What's this!!!" Zarkon thundered angrily. As the ship shook under their feet, throwing them all off balance.

"We've disrupted their extraction sequence." Allura called finally. "Paladins, get in there and take out those tractor beams, now!!"

"You heard the Princess." Keith remarked to the others. "Let's get those tractor beams." He thrust his lion forward, and the other Paladins soon followed. Using their jaw blades and lasers the five lions disabled on beam after another. While the Castle worked to neutralize the other ships still around them. With one final blow, Keith had finally freed the Black Lion; but the lion remained motionless. It's eyes were dark and its lights out, it showed no signs of life at all.

"Shiro, are you ok?! Shiro?!.. Shiro!!" Kieth addressed him several times, no response.

"He won't be able to hear you, Keith!" Pidge reminded him.

"Guys" Keith called to them. "We need to get Shiro and the Black Lion out of here. Now!"

"Copy that!" Pidge called. "Lance, Hunk, let's clear a path. For Keith and Shiro."

Shiro ears rang, but that ring descended into total silence once more. The motion on the screen showing a picture very different from what he'd last remembered. His head ached and the scratch across his chest throbbed severely; almost to the point he couldn't breathe without a stabbing pain cutting each breath short. He was almost positive he had aggravated his cracked ribs, because of the stabbing knife-like pain in his left side. Shiro grunted painfully as he sat himself up, the piercing pain predictably there. He slowly reached for the handles tightly gripping them.

The Black lion's light came on and it gave a growling roar.

"Shiro's back on line!" Keith stated. He showed up on Shiro's screen.

"Shiro, you ok?" Keith signed quickly. Shiro gave a dazed groan, then responded with a thumbs up. Keith sighed with relief. "Thank goodness." He said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Now let's get out of here!" Shiro watched the screen, as the red lion turned and jetted off toward the castle; after the other lions. Shiro wasted no time in following them. Red turned around one last time to deliver a blast to the Galra central command ship; before continuing on, diving into the wormhole with the rest of the team.

When they were several galaxies away again, the Paladins returned to the bridge. Shiro staggered into the room, he reached for the back of his chair and guided himself around it to sit down. Taking a seat he laid back with his head pressed against the back of the chair, closing his eyes firmly; his whole body finally relaxing.

"So what happened out there?" Keith asked, mostly directing the question to Shiro, but keeping it open to everyone.

"It appeared to be some type of energy-sucking device built into the tractor beam." Coran explained, bringing up a video of the incident on the screen.

"So if that's the case what did it do to Shiro?" Pidge asked, looking at Shiro, who remained motionless. The room fell silent, each person in their own mind of thought.

 _"I saw my uncle again."_ Shiro's signing earned him the glance of everyone else. _"We were in this...void-type place."_ Shiro's eyes were almost half closed now. _"Then I saw you guys and knew I had to fight my way back, but then... something brought me back."_ Keith was translating this whole time for the rest of the team to understand.

"I bet that was the blast from the ship that did it." Allura guessed.

 _"Maybe."_ Shiro gave a slight nod, rising slowly from his chair.

"So.. you saw him again?..." Hunk recapped, hesitantly looking up. "Your uncle?"

 _"Yes."_ Shiro motioned after reading Keith's fingers. _"He also encouraged me to fight way my back. I honestly wasn't sure I could there for a second."_

"So... you were... gonna... give up?" Pidge thought she'd cry. Shiro laid a hand on her shoulder gaining her moistening eyes' attention.

 _"I've had many near-death experiences..."_ Shiro told her. _"But this time felt different... and I wasn't sure I had a choice."_ Pidge's wide eyes teared up more... her expression softened, and she thrust herself forward to hug him. He grunted at the pain from his injury, but then returned the hug. A tear escaped the Green Paladin's eyes and meandered down her cheek; the warmth of Shiro's body and the sound of his pounding heart helping to calm her. His unspoken words hinted at something; which she realized fairly quickly; the realization felt like a kick to the chest. One she desired to never feel again. She finally drew away and wiped away her tears, a smile showing through her sadness. Shiro returned a tender smile, his hand finding its way to her shoulder again.

"You appear to be breathing a bit strangely." Allura observed, peering out from behind Pidge. "Are you alright?" Shiro studied Keith's message then began his reply.

 _"Nah, I'm fine. Just need to take a break. After all that has happened, it's just been a long few days."_ Pidge stepped forward and gently pressed her ear to Shiro's chest once more, and heard exactly what Allura meant.

"Your lungs do sound a little stressed." She said quite decisively. "I think we should get you into a healing pod for a little while." Shiro was silent, and the team wondered if he'd understood them.

"Shiro? You with us?" Lance spoke up. Shiro nodded, as though he'd heard him; but kept his blank expression. Pidge, then, took Shiro's hand, which had been on her shoulder this whole time, and led him away. Keith and the rest of the team following. Arriving at the infirmary, Pidge shoved Shiro into a separate room to get changed into the white suit for the cryopod. The Green Paladin's body language told the silent Black Paladin she wasn't giving him a choice in the matter. So Shiro followed the indicated instruction, soon returning. When he emerged from the other room, Pidge took his hand and guided him into the pod; putting up the cryogenic shield. Shiro was soon in a deep cryogenic sleep, as the team stood watching... for a little while anyway.

 **Hey guys, happy New Year's Eve! So I think know now what to do and happily chapters nineteen and twenty will be easy to fet done, but we'll see. Thank you soooo much for reading it and I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

 **More stories are planned, as always, and will be started at some point the future. How far into the future I don't know yet.**

 **Also, I am pretty busy with the stories I have going currently, so I'm not sure how many requests I can take, but you can always share them with me anyway.**

 **The next story I have planned to write is a crossover with Voltron: Legendary Defender and Voltron Force. I will try to share more details soon, still have a lot to do before it's ready to start.**

 **Anyway thanks again for taking the time to read this story, I am super proud of this one and the comments have been fantastic!!! So stay tuned for the next chapters and I hope you enjoy them as well. Thx!!!!! ;D :)**


	19. Affirmation

Chapter nineteen

Keith was the only one who remained now. The rest of the team scattered, off doing whatever they pleased. Though none of them were at ease after all that had happened. Keith, especially, was struggling with it. Everything he saw, everything he'd experienced. Now he really _could_ imagine what it had been like for Shiro. He pulled his sleeve up and studied the white bandage, that covered would soon become, a long scar along the inside of his forearm. He couldn't imagine what kind of things remained beneath Shiro's shirt. The memory of him lashing out at Shiro zapped back across his mind. He couldn't fathom what type of mark it would leave, and almost wished not to find out. But what else could he do? Run away? Leave so he didn't have to face it? But how? He couldn't do that to Shiro?! He was like a brother!! The thought of walking away from him was unimaginable. _How would he react?!_ Though Keith knew the answer.

"He wouldn't let me go anyway..." he thought out loud in a low voice. "He'd probably come looking for me." The Red Paladin kept his hand pressed to the glassy, light blue shield that covered his friend, glancing tenderly through it at him.

 _Shiro gazed across the friendly darkness of his own mind. He couldn't help but feel relief in seeing this. The void he'd seen his uncle in, held a terrifying chill in the air. This air being as thick as a heavy fog; though without the obscuring of vision. Instead, here, he could manifest whatever he pleased; as this was the one place he knew he had, at least, SOME control. Shiro let his thoughts flow freely, knowing that he hadn't anything to fear... or fight. On the far right, long skinny lights formed tracks from which memories and thoughts ran. The star-like lights scattered throughout the large dimly-lit area, added a little extra light to this indigo blue world. Streams of lighter blue and purple lights, like the Aurora Borealis, waved across, what would be, the sky; like a banner painting the wind. Shiro smiled, he finally felt at peace for once, 'well mostly at peace', he thought. He knew his mind was still an unpredictable, sometimes untamable, creature that even **he** desired not to deal with. But seeing as how he couldn't avoid it completely, he knew he'd have to just make do with what he could. As he stood there studying everything, another train of thought came by. The train gained his attention as it passed; and what he saw dragged his mind with it..._

 _The train came in the form of Memory bubbles; each depicting a new memory. All of which Shiro recognized immediately; and as each one passed him, he was zapped back to each moment in turn..._

 _He and his uncle laughing and playing together when he was a child._

 _Shiro and his mother starting to try and move on after Micheal's death._

 _His mother's disappearance._

 _Shiro going to the Garrison when he was of age._

 _Meeting Sam and his family... and later Keith. And the relationships with them that followed._

 _His struggles with his health issues, and the debate about the Kerberos Misson..._

 _ **Shiro sat in a Garrison lounge; his gaze fixed on the floor, a troubled and frustrated expression on his face. Another person, a commander, came to sit down next to him.**_

 _ **"I know this isn't how you wanted things to go." Sam Holt told him with a sympathetic, sighing breath; his gaze downcast as well. "But we have to keep trying. You and I both know that you're perfect for the job. There are risks to any mission,... this one is no different." Sam, then, looked over at Shiro, who's gaze never changed.**_

 _ **"They don't think I can do it." Shiro finally responded quietly. "I'm not good enough."**_

 _ **"That's not true." Sam responded firmly, keeping his tender tone. "They're just worried about your mental health. That one mission seemed to REALLY test your sanity quite a bit... Iverson and I were worried you wouldn't make it without completely cracking under the pressure."**_

 _ **"But Sam, it was one time!" Shiro snapped, still strongly attempting to hold his tongue. "Anyone should be allowed a pass after a mission like that!"**_

 _ **"I know, I know." Sam agreed gently, patting his shoulder. "I'm just saying, the Garrison's job is not only to raise up the best astro-explorers in the country,... but to also take care of them too. They just don't want to be liable if you get hurt."**_

 _ **"They wouldn't be liable if I wanted to do it; regardless of the risks." Shiro's intense gaze met Sam's soft tender one. "I've already made it clear to them, that anything that happens is not on them. It's on me."**_

 _ **"I know, but I'm sure there's someone that might." Sam reminded him. "Family?"**_

 _ **"Heh, what family?" Shiro scoffed standing up. Sam's eyes widened at Shiro's sarcasm; something he didn't hear from him often. "My father is dead and my mother hasn't been seen since I was young. My aunt raised me. And then she left as well... as soon as I was able to go to the Garrison."**_

 _ **"Doesn't mean she still doesn't care about you." Sam stood up with him, their gaze locking once more. You still talk to her don't you?" Shiro was silent. "Shiro?" Sam pried.**_

 _ **"Sometimes." Shiro shrugged. "I promised her I'd stay in contact... but it's not the same... and with Micheal gone I-.." Shiro trailed off, cutting his statement short.**_

 _ **"I know." Sam agreed slowly. "But I won't give up." He went on; his voice lightening. "I know that you're perfect for this mission and I'll try my best to get Sanda and the others in agreement."**_

 _ **"Yeah, well good luck." Shiro was being both sarcastic and serious at the same time. Sam dropped a firm hand onto Shiro's shoulder. Sam's eyes bore into Shiro's lovingly.**_

 _ **"Shiro, I will never give up on you." The commander told him. "Now you need to not give up yourself." Sam's hand slid off his shoulder, and Shiro thought deeply about this...**_

 _As Shiro returned to the void from the memory, he realized that **that** was exactly what he told Keith at one point. He grinned knowingly, 'I guess I **did** have a good role model', he thought. Looking back; many things he'd told Keith had once been told to him, up until now he hadn't truly realized how wise he'd become over the years from the people he'd known. He knew that learning gains wisdom, but for the longest time he felt that he didn't have any real examples to base his life off of. But now he realized even though they weren't around for every part of his life. He'd always had at least **one** person to look up to in different parts of his life. And he was thankful that they had been there. His parents, his uncle, his aunt, Sam, and even Keith had taught him a thing or two. That these people had a big impact on him... bigger than anything they could imagine; and bigger than he'd ever realized before. He, now, got a strong sense of ease and confidence now, knowing this. And remembering the team he had waiting for him right now, he vowed, in that moment, to do all he could to get them back to Earth safely. He knew they had families waiting for them, and wanted them to be able to see them again. And he also didn't want the families to feel the same pain he did, of never being able to see their loved one ever again; like he did with his mother._

 _"Whatever it takes." He said out loud, his voice echoing in the empty space. His mind, then, slowly began to fade away, but he was being pulled the opposite direction; and knew exactly what this meant..._

Keith had been sitting there on the steps leaning against the pod, asleep. He hadn't left the room, since Shiro was put into the pod. He knew Shiro wasn't in any immediate danger, but he still couldn't leave without knowing the Black Paladin was out and alright. He cared too much about shiro to leave and 'do his own thing'. Keith was suddenly jerked awake, he sat upright and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Looking up, he was startled by the rest of the team standing there, scattered throughout the circle of pods.

"How long have you guys been here?" Keith groaned, recovering himself.

"Almost ten minutes." Pidge told him matter-of-factly. "Shiro should be waking up soon." A whooshing sound validated her statement, causing them to look in the direction of the sound. Shiro's pod deactivated and he slowly emerged from it; Keith standing there to help him immediately.

"Shiro?" Keith addressed the Black Paladin, hoping that he could hear him again. No response. Shiro rolled his eyes up to look at them, as he straightened up.

 _"Still can't hear?"_ Keith motioned to him. Shiro closed his eye and hung his head, then shook his head a moment later. Everyone sighed, frustration building on them, the weight of it beginning to crush them.

"Ugh! His hearing should have returned by now... shouldn't it?!" Hunk vocalized their concerns.

"Yeah." Pidge sighed, then went on, as she began typing something on her computer. "But maybe we can take another look and see..." Just then a strange noise vibrated from the computer, a screeching high-pitched one; though it wasn't very loud volume-wise. The team closed their eyes and put their hands to their ears to block out the noise. Shiro grimaced as a ringing in his ears began, causing him to suddenly feel a little dizzy. He felt as though his head would explode!

"Ahh, Pidge can you turn that off!" Shiro groaned. Hearing Shiro's voice everyone in the room froze, as the sound seemed to die down on its own.

 **Hey everybody! Finally adding to this story! So a few things to inform you guys about:**

 **1.) I will hopefully have chapter twenty done in the next couple of days, and posting it, concluding this story.**

 **2.) Going along with the conclusion, I am thinking about writing a sequel for this fic. One that kinda explains some past things that were touched upon in this story. I guess it would be a form of Shiro backstory/type thing based on the flashbacks and explanations given by Shiro in his story. Idk, let me know your thoughts!**

 **3.) starting January 7th I will be takin a break from fanfic. I will be back after the 26th. I may be able to post something the 15th, but I'm not sure yet.**

 **Anyway thanks so much for the support and love! As I said there is only one chapter remaining and I hope to get it done before my break. Also I would really like to hear a yay or neigh on the sequel. Anyway still next time fanficers! Thx!!!**


	20. Resolutions

Chapter twenty

The team stood there staring at Shiro their mouths agape and their eyes wide. None of them believing what they'd just heard. Some of them thinking they were hearing things. Shiro stood at his full height once more, a quizzical look on his face.

"What?" He said. Keith stepped forward, he signed something him. "Why are you still signing I'm not-" Shiro then realized something. He could hear his own voice!

"Are you... hearing us?" Pidge asked hopefully. Shiro's eyes flashed.

"I...I..I think so!" He gasped staggering back a couple of steps, a sudden wave of relief overwhelming him. Keith couldn't hold back, he lunged forward with Pidge and hugged Shiro. The Black Paladin grunted at the sudden ambush of the Red and Green Paladins, also having not fully recovered from his physical wounds.

"The infection from the gases in something I remember from my time in Zarkon's prison. I can't believe I didn't think of it in the moment." Shiro was saying, after the realization of Shiro's newly recovered hearing, they'd all headed to the lounge to relax; since now they _truly_ could. "The Galra use it as a way to slow prisoners down in case they somehow manage to escape. But they usually regulate it so that it doesn't become toxic. It's a lot like carbon monoxide, but isn't as deadly. There's no scent to it and you can't see it. It's generally undetected unless you really know how to detect it."

"So that infection was just part of its purpose?" Allura implied, recapping all he'd said.

"Yes." Shiro confirmed. "And it takes effect faster with open wounds. Which is why Keith and I got infected so quickly. The more open the wound is, the less time it takes to get infected. Keith's wounds were mostly burns... mine was a deep open wound."

"So that's why you got sick so quickly." Pidge's realized, relieved for finally having an answer.

"That's right." Shiro answered, further revealing the truth. "Keith may have been exposed to it longer. But because his wounds were not as open as mine, he wasn't infected as quickly."

"But then,... why'd it take us so long to notice it." Lance wondered aloud, his arms tucked across his chest thoughtfully.

"I think the adrenaline from the battle and the rescue was enough to mask the symptoms." Pidge replied, adjusting her glasses. "And his concern for Keith after we rescued him didn't help. It was after that adrenaline wore down that he finally started to feel the effects, which resulted in him passing out from exhaustion. Essentially he was so focused on Keith and getting him back that nothing else mattered. I guess, it shows just how resilient he is."

"Something." Lance agreed, shrugging one shoulder and looking at Shiro.

"I had to learn how to survive while in Zarkon's prison." Shiro told them, grinning. "I guess, I still get in the habit sometimes."

"Well at least you don't have to worry about just _'surviving'_ anymore." Keith emphasized beaming.

"I guess not." Shiro responded with a chuckle. "Cause I've got a whole group of protectors right here." The team smiled proudly, their relief of the resolve clearly demonstrated by their faces.

"So what was it like?" Lance asked, looking down, then up at Shiro again; his smile fading. "Seeing you're uncle again?" Shiro's face flashed.

"It- was...uh... different." Shiro admitted, his eyes dropping down to the right, then straight to the floor as he spoke. "It was a lot of things, I guess. I'm still trying to process all that has happened. The explosion, the training,... Keith disappearance and my near death experience. And my battles with Zarkon for the Black Lion... its all... so much."

"It's ok." Keith told him, his hand finding Shiro's shoulder. "We get it... it's a lot to deal with at one time."

"I know..." Shiro breathed, closing his eyes for a moment. "And I also know I'm not alone." Shiro's grey eyes met Keith's directly. The Red Paladin was taken aback by this, but knew his meaning instantly.

"Uh... Yeah... I guess." Keith slumped in defeat.

"It's ok. I know how it is." Shiro responded placing his right hand up on top of Keith's.

"And now _I_ know what it was like for you." Keith responded, he turned toward him. "How did you survive that and have the strength to keep going after escaping?"

"I don't know." Shiro told him honestly. "I guess I'm stronger than I thought."

"Yeah,..." Keith agreed softly dropping his gaze again. "Maybe."

"Look, I know that what you saw was horrible, but you don't have to let it get to you." Shiro told him, placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Many times I almost lost my mind, but I didn't because I knew I had something to live for. Something to hope for... getting back Earth... and you."

"Even after all the struggles of your life, you still had hope?!" Keith couldn't believe what Shiro had said.

"Yes." Shiro replied simply. "Because that one thing was worth living for. That one person was worth fighting for... you are worth fighting for." He took Keith's hand and pulled him into a hug. Keith slowly returning it.

"So... wait." Allura began, as they parted. "Your saying that without Keith... you might it have survived the Galra prison?"

"I guess,..." Shiro shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah." The Princess sat back thoughtfully. She could tell Keith and Shiro we're close, but she hadn't realized just how _**close**_ they actually were; until now at least.

"So Pidge." Shiro went on. "What was that noise that brought my hearing back?"

"Oh, just another one of those un-decryptable radio frequencies." The Green Paladin sighed, rolling her eyes in frustration. "I pick up several of them, I've never been able to get them decrypted to a point where I can understand them. But I guess the sound was enough to reverse the effects of the ro-beast blast." Her voice lightened at this one fact.

"Then I guess it doesn't matter. Since it helped." Shiro smiled. "But Keith, why would you go and try to take on Zarkon alone?" His smile faded, as he looked to the Red Paladin once again. Keith's face lit up at the question and than softened in despair.

"I thought I could take him by surprise..." Keith answered slowly. "I thought that-.. I could finish him... right then and there."

"Keith, Zarkon is too powerful for any one of us to take on alone. That's why we're a team. So that _together_ we can defeat him... but we can only do that if we work together. We can't just go solo all the time. That only makes us vulnerable." Shiro's tone was gentle yet firm, his corrections, Keith knew, were valid ones. And he realized now that he wasn't ready to take on Zarkon by himself.

"Yeah... I know." Keith answered finally, keeping his voice low.

"I understand that this war has been difficult. But if we're going to take Zarkon down, we need to work as a team. One unit remember." Shiro told him removing his hand from his shoulder.

"Yeah..." Keith dropped his chin slightly. "I'm sorry." He kept his gaze fixed on the floor.

"I know how you feel. A younger version of myself would have done the same." Shiro dropped his eyes to the floor as well, but Keith looked up at him in hearing this.

"Really?" The Red Paladin had known Shiro for years, but never thought he'd ever have been like him; not by a long shot.

"You'd be amazed at what I was like back then." Shiro smirked. "You probably wouldn't even recognize me, as a teenager... or child." Keith managed a smile. _'Maybe he understands me more than I think.'_ He thought.

"At least now we're back on track." Shiro concluded turning to the others. "We still need to find out how Zarkon keeps finding us. So we can stop it and then go and find, and talk to, the Blade of Marmora. Hopefully, then we'll have a new alli that will help turn the tide in this war."

"Is that our only focus?" Allura questioned innocently.

"Yes." Shiro confirmed, then continued on after rising from his seat. "Figuring out how Zarkon is finding us and gaining allies is priority one. Or we won't stand a chance in taking him out. We need an edge, and without a little help... we just don't have it."

"You're right, Shiro." Keith agreed, standing up as well. "We will figure this out. And when we do, we can go find the Blade of Marmora and hopefully get them on our side."

"Then we'll be one step closer to finding a way to take Zarkon down... for good." Pidge added confidently, joining them.

"Yeah." Lance also agreed, standing up with them. Hunk and Allura rising together. The team stood gazing around at each other, confidence radiating from each one of them, and almost amplifying the others'. Each person's energies feeding off the others, a gentle growl in their ears reminded them that they were not alone. Then they all filed out of the room, heading to the bridge to get to work; all feeling more ready to get to work than they ever had before.

~Let Hands Be My Voice~

 **Well guys here it is... the last chapter. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the support on this story. And I'm sooo glad you guys enjoyed it!! As before I would love to know if you guys are interested a sequel for this fic. And don't worry I have other ideas besides that! Thank you guys sooo much for the amazing comments! I seriously appreciate them!!! You guys have been awesome and here's to hoping many more good stories come after it. Thx!!!**


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